The 66-year-old tennis icon, who won 59 grand slam singles and doubles titles, will undergo further preventative radiation treatment; Martina Navratilova had previously said in December she may not see this Christmas
Tuesday 21 March 2023 07:37, UK
Tennis great Martina Navratilova said she is cancer-free nearly four months after announcing she had been diagnosed with throat and breast cancer.
The former No 1 will undergo further preventative radiation treatment after the diagnosis had left her fearing she "may not see next Christmas".
The 66-year-old told Piers Morgan on Talk TV in an interview to be aired on Tuesday: "As far as they know I'm cancer free."
Speaking about her reaction to the diagnosis, which she revealed in January, she was quoted in The Sun: "I was in a total panic for three days thinking I may not see next Christmas.
"The bucket list came into my mind of all the things I wanted to do."
Ms Navratilova, who won 59 grand slam singles and doubles titles, went to the doctor after noticing an enlarged lymph node in her neck. Tests subsequently confirmed it was cancer.
"This was the first week in December, [I'm thinking] I will see this Christmas, but maybe not the next one," she said.
But doctors were able to tell her the cancer was "extremely treatable" and she had a "95%" chance of a full recovery.
Ms Navratilova underwent treatment for early-stage breast cancer in 2010.
Navratilova also revealed that songs by Sir Elton John that were played by nurses while she was in chemotherapy helped get her through the treatment.
"You pick your music that you want to listen to," she said.
"One time I picked Elton John, and then he starts singing I'm Still Standing, which he dedicated to me at a concert in Paris during the French Open in the eighties."
