Martina Navratilova is handling breast cancer as if it were a mid-court sitter: she’s stepping up and clobbering it.
“I’m cancer free,” said the Hall of Famer on Monday. “That was taken out when I had the lumpectomy about six weeks ago. I just started radiation last week. I’m on my second week of that, and so far so good. It’s a fairly quick procedure. You’re only there for about five minutes on the table. I don’t feel anything yet. I understand I may get tired toward the end of the treatment, but that will be more week four, five and six. The first two or three weeks should be pretty easy.”
The 53-year-old Czech-American isn’t letting the treatment affect her everyday life. In March, she competed in a triathlon in Hawaii. Then she headed to Minneapolis for an April exo. Next week, she’ll continue her on-air duties with The Tennis Channel at Roland Garros, simultaneously playing in the senior doubles event with Jana Novotna. All this while undergoing the radiation sessions.
“I had planned on doing those events before I knew I had the DCIS [Ductal Darcinoma in Situ – the noninvasive form of breast cancer she was diagnosed with during a routine mammogram in January],” she said. “After I was diagnosed, I was like, ‘Can I still do Hawaii?’ That was one of my first thoughts. ‘Can I play the exhibition in Minneapolis? Is it okay for me to do that?’ Then it was, ‘Okay, can we work out the schedule so that I can still do that?’ And then it just all worked out…I just didn’t change my plans.”
Did we mention that she plans to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in December?
“I have always wanted to climb it. I just never had anybody to climb it with,” explained Navratilova, who’ll do it for a cause — the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. “I’ll be done with all of my treatment just before Wimbledon and this is something I wanted to do. I love Africa. I have spent a lot of time in Kenya and Tanzania. Every opportunity that I can go back there, I grab it.”
She clearly hasn’t allowed the disease slow her down. In fact, she’s now busier than ever.
“I wanted to help raise awareness, which, as a result, meant I had less time for myself. Which is kind of ironic. I’m telling people to take more time for themselves while I’m taking less for myself,” she said. “[But] it makes you take pause and take stock on whether you’re doing what you want to be doing. The answer to that was yes. I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing.”
