Olivia Newton-John revealed in her autobiography the devastating details of her first cancer diagnosis and why she kept it from her daughter Chloe Lattanzi.
The beloved Aussie icon, who died on Monday aged 73, penned a memoir in 2017 and opened up about her battle with cancer which started in 1992.
In it, she said she’d found a lump during a self-examination of her breasts and pushed her doctor to run several tests which came back negative – until the final one.
Olivia Newton-John (pictured) revealed in her autobiography the devastating details of her first cancer diagnosis and why she kept it from her daughter Chloe Lattanzi
On July 3, 1992, Olivia’s husband at the time, Matt Lattanzi, now 63, was contacted by her doctor as the pair changed flights in Seattle.
Dr. Phillips said he wished to see Olivia in person, alluding to the bad news, but Matt kept the possible diagnosis a secret from her as it was already a day of heartache.
Olivia’s father, Brinley, had been very ill with liver cancer when he died on July 3.
The beloved Aussie icon, who died on Monday aged 73, penned a memoir in 2017 and opened up about her battle with cancer which started in 1992. Olivia is pictured performing in 1992
She had visited him on his sickbed only days before but had to leave for Los Angeles to attend rehearsals for her world tour.
‘I told him I’d be back soon but all night long on that plane ride home I cried and cried,’ Olivia wrote in her book. ‘In my heart, I knew I would never see my father again — and I was right.’
She went on to reveal in her memoir, Don’t Stop Believing, the moment her daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 36, found out her mother had breast cancer at the age of six.
On July 3, 1992, Olivia’s husband at the time, Matt Lattanzi, 63, was contacted by her doctor as the pair changed flights in Seattle. . Phillips said he wished to see Olivia in person, alluding to the bad news of her, but Matt kept the possible diagnosis a secret as it was already a hard day for her
The young girl had ‘lost her best friend Colette to cancer’, so Olivia chose to keep the diagnosis a secret from her at first, despite having announced it publicly.
Unfortunately, on Chloe’s first day back at school in Australia, she found out the devastating news from her peers.
Olivia wrote: ‘When I picked Chloe up after her very first day, she was crying.
‘”Mummy, Mummy! One of my friends said you have cancer. Is it true?” I held her, told her it was true, but that now I was better and the cancer was gone.’
She went on to reveal the moment her daughter Chloe Newton-John, 36, (right) found out her mother had breast cancer at age six from her friends at school. The young girl had ‘lost her de ella Colette’s best friend to cancer’, so Olivia chose to keep the diagnosis a secret from her at first
The Grease star went on to say her little girl had been crushed by the omission, telling her mother, ‘I would have taken care of you.’
She believed it was the start of the ‘trust issues’ Chloe struggled with later in life.
Olivia died peacefully in her home in Southern California on Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends.
It came after a brave and extraordinarily public decades-long battle with cancer in which she was diagnosed three times in 1992, 2013 and, for a final time, in 2017.
Olivia died peacefully in her home in Southern California on Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends. (Pictured with her husband John Easterling in a throwback photo she posted on Friday just three days before she passed away)
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