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Martina Navratilova has breast cancer

http://www1.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Buzz+Party+at+US+Open+Fi7Br57GMQ2l.jpgOne of our greatest heroes, Martina Navratilova, said Wednesday she has breast cancer.
“I cried,” Navratilova, 53, tells PEOPLE about the moment in February when a biopsy came back positive after a routine mammogram revealed a cluster in her left breast. “It knocked me on my ass, really. I feel so in control of my life and my body, and then this comes, and it’s completely out of my hands.”

The nine-time Wimbledon champion has a noninvasive form of the cancer, called ductal carcinoma in situ, that was detected during a mammogram. The cancer was surgically removed in a procedure called a lumpectomy and Martina will undergo radiation treatment.

“I’m very hopeful,” the tennis legend said in an interview to air Wednesday night on CNN’s “Larry King Live.”

DCIS, as the cancer is commonly called, has a 95 percent survival rate, Navratilova said. Some medical sources say the survival rate is even higher, approaching nearly 100 percent.

UPDATE: Here is Martina’s interview on GMA today:

Along with her record 167 singles titles during her pro career, Martina has also shown you can be forever young on the court. She was one month shy of her 5oth birthday when she won the US Open mixed doubles championship three years ago. Last summer, she teamed with former rival Helena Sukova at Wimbledon and they won the Ladies Invitational Doubles tournament.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.fanhouse.com/media/2008/07/martina-navratilova-070608.jpgWhile it is her on-court achievements that brought her fame and glory, Martina has been a real trail-blazer off the court. She came out as a lesbian in the early 80s when no one else was doing it and excelled as the number one player in the world for many years despite sometimes hostile crowds in the earlier years.
“I don’t know one person who’s come out who wants to go back in,” Martina told me in a 2007 interview. “It was rough back then. It was rough when I walked on court, people would be clapping when Chris [Evert] or Steffi [Graf] were announced. I‘d come out and some people wouldn’t clap. Imagine if they didn’t clap for Roger Federer if he was gay. He’s the best tennis player in the world. So that hurt. To me, my sexuality should be irrelevant, it’s not anything to be ashamed of. I was upset that people would think it was a negative and judge me just on that.”
But like with all the challenges in her life, Martina stayed strong.


 PARIS - JUNE 02:  Former Player Martina Navratilova Poses

FILE UNDER: Lesbian, Tennis

Comments

(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)

2 Remarks

  1. Get well soon and hopefully this will contiune to spread the word to women to check themselves and get checked with a mamogram.

  2. i just cant believe it martina get well soon this really is a shock to me

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