CNN
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Tennis great Martina Navratilova says her “prognosis is excellent” after being diagnosed with throat and breast cancer.
In an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV, Navratilova said, “I mean, as far as they know I’m cancer free…I definitely won’t miss any of my exams. I will be very, very diligent about this, but the prognosis is excellent. But you never know.”
Navratilova, 66, who has won 59 Grand Slam singles and doubles titles during her illustrious career, discovered an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, the last year.
After a biopsy, she was later diagnosed with stage one throat cancer, her agent Mary Greenham told CNN in January. During throat tests, a suspicious shape was found in Navratilova’s breast, which was later diagnosed as cancer, Greenham said.
“It was still very high and low, right?” Navratilova said in the TalkTV interview that aired on Tuesday.
“So I find out it’s throat cancer, I think I might be dying but I find out no, it’s very treatable. Then they found the right breast and when I had the right breast biopsy, the doctor said, “That doesn’t look great.”
“And when she said that, I was like, ‘Oh great, do I have another cancer?’ And that’s when I started crying on the table as she was still rummaging in there to take samples from my boobs and I was like, ‘Oh great, I I have two cancers at the same time that are unrelated.”
Navratilova, who was previously diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, spoke of her determination after receiving her dual diagnosis.
“What was the alternative?” Give up? To sell? Quit?” she said. “That’s just not an option for me…quitting smoking just isn’t in my DNA.”
Since retiring from tennis, Navratilova has worked as a coach, host and ambassador for the WTA Tour. She still holds the WTA record of 167 singles titles, 10 more than longtime friend and rival Chris Evert, who said in January she was ‘cancer free’ after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. of stage 1.
After Greenham asked her friends to send Navratilova a message and song, Evert sent Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me.”
“I couldn’t even read this stuff,” Navratilova said. “When Mary first sent it to me, I just started crying…I started reading it and I was like, I can’t listen to the music because I’m definitely going to cry.
“One day at a time I read a little of what everyone wrote because it was so moving.”
