Fears: Martina Navratilova says she cried when she was diagnosed with breast cancerMartina Navratilova revealed yesterday that she is battling breast cancer.
The nine-times Wimbledon singles champion described the news as her 'personal 9/11' and said she cried when she was diagnosed in February.
'It was a total shock because I've been so healthy,' said the 53-year-old star, who retired from competitive tennis only three years ago.
'It knocked me on my ass, really,' she said. 'I feel so in control of my life and my body, and then this comes and it's completely out of my hands.
'Throughout my decades-long tennis career, I have faced some really tough opponents across the net - Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, and even the Williams sisters in doubles.
'What I never anticipated was that my toughest opponent would be off the court - cancer.
'When I first got the news, I was alone in my house. I was shocked, overwhelmed and devastated.
'I am 53 years old, a lifelong athlete, strong, healthy and had eaten nutritiously my entire life.
'Those positive aspects of my life only fuelled the "why me?" questions those first few days.'
But she added: 'The bad news is it's cancer - the good news is that it hasn't spread.'
Pain: Navratilova admitted she was devastated by the news as she announced she is battling the disease on Good Morning AmericaThe 18-time Grand Slam singles winner said her first thoughts when she learned she had cancer in her left breast were not about death, but fears she would be disfigured.
'I thought, "I'm going to lose my boob and then my hair, and I don't have that much",' she told U.S.A Today newspaper.
Love match: Miss Navratilova and partner Julia LemigovaBut doctors say her prognosis is good, particularly as they caught the cancer early.
'It was the best- case scenario you could imagine for detecting breast cancer,' said Dr Mindy Nagle, her gynaecologist and friend.
Miss Navratilova has a non-invasive form of breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ, better known as DCIS, which was confined to the milk ducts and had not spread to the breast tissue.
She has undergone a lumpectomy to remove the tumour and some surrounding tissue and will begin six weeks of radiation therapy next month.
She said she was having radiation therapy because her cancer was Grade 3 - 'the more aggressive type'.
She is taking part in a web chat in the U.S. today so women can ask questions. 'I want to ask questions myself.
'How does radiation hit you? I know it makes you tired,' she said.
Urging women to have yearly mammograms, Miss Navratilova said: 'By the time it becomes a lump, it's too late.'
The openly gay tennis star is said to be engaged to 47-year-old former Miss Universe Julia Lemigova.
During her appearance on ITV's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here in 2008, Miss Navratilova often spoke of her 'drop- dead beautiful' girlfriend.
The Russian-born former beauty queen and daughter of a Red Army colonel kept a low profile as Miss Navratilova fought a legal battle with ex-girlfriend Toni Layton, who claimed she was dumped without warning after eight years together.
Champion: The tennis legend won a record nine Wimbledon women's single finals during her three-decade-long career Miss Navratilova also had a high-profile legal tussle with former partner Judy Nelson in the early 1990s.
Miss Nelson sued her for £8million in palimony after seven years together, but the pair later settled out of court.
Miss Navratilova partly blamed herself for her latest troubles because she went four years without a mammogram check-up.
'I let it slip. I was a bad girl,' she said. 'Everyone gets busy, but don't make excuses.
'I stay in shape and eat right and it happened to me. Another year and I could have been in big trouble.'
Court: Miss Navratilova had a high-profile legal tussle with former partner Judy Nelson in the early 1990sShe also appeared on the Good Morning America television programme yesterday, where she said: 'I found out February 24 - it was my personal 9/11.
'I was shocked as I was sure that the calcifications were benign. I was devastated. Physically I could not think or move, I was useless.'
'The prognosis of someone with DCIS is excellent,' said Dr Shelley Hwang, a breast surgeon at the University of California.
'There's only a 1 per cent chance that anyone with this diagnosis would die of breast cancer.'
source: dailymail
