Battle won: Martina Navratilova, pictured here in April shortly after she was diagnosed, has announced she's beaten breast cancer
Martina Navratilova has revealed that after a six-month battle she is finally 'cancer-free'.
The tennis ace underwent surgery and six-weeks of radiation after being diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.Speaking to U.S. magazine People, the 53-year-old announced: 'I am cancer-free. Technically I was cancer-free after the lumpectomy in March.
'But then I had radiation to make sure that it killed any cancer cells that were still hovering about.'
But despite her high levels of fitness, she admitted that the radiation sessions were much tougher than she had expected.
R&R: The tennis star spent some time recovering from radiotherapy and surgery with friends in St Tropez in August'Surgery was easy, but the radiation was trickier. It was six weeks of really low energy. Radiation just sucks your energy like a vampire, day by day,' she said.
She continued: 'Even when it was over, it took it a long time to get my energy back up.
'But now I feel as good as new. I have an excellent prognosis, and I'm really doing well.'
Now facing the rest of her life, the athlete said she has decided to ditch some habits and replace them with new hobbies.
"I stopped drinking coffee. It has already made me feel better," she added.
'I want to start surfing. I've tried, but the waves haven't been right. I snowboard, so I'm sure I can learn to surf. It will happen someday. I've got the rest of my life to learn.'
Navratilova was diagnosed with a non-invasive form of the disease ductal carcinoma.
Talking at a health conference in Orlando, Florida, yesterday, she reflected: 'I really didn't talk much about breast cancer before I had it.
'Now, I'm approached by women and we share our stories. It's encouraging to see that there's life after cancer,' she added.
source :dailymail
