One of a pair of New Zealand icons, Jools Topp of the Topp Twins, is recovering after a mastectomy operation a fortnight ago. Jools Topp, 48, who is one of the duo with her sister Lynda, was diagnosed with breast cancer in August. She is set to begin chemotherapy in the next few weeks. The prognosis is for a full recovery, and Topp is crediting that to an early diagnosis. The twins had performed at In the Pink, the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation's charity fashion event, over the past few years. Topp told Radio New Zealand this morning that she got her suspicious breast lump checked immediately - and this may have saved her life. As out lesbians since 1977, the Topp Twins have always been visible and proud about their sexual identity. “We are taking a known lesbian act and we're putting it on primetime TV and we're getting mums and dads and kids to watch it", Jools says on the Topp Twins website. Topp told Radio New Zealand she was speaking about her experience with breast cancer to try to remove some of the fear of the disease, and wants to encourage other women to consider the importance of regular mammograms and early detection of breast cancer. She thinks often people are shocked by a cancer diagnosis; and that this this causes them unnecessary stress at a time when they need to be thinking positively. Topp said she views her cancer as a challenge; and although chemotherapy may knock her around she is focussed on doing what is required for her recovery - her way of coping is to take one step at a time, and keep a sense of humour about her situation. She jokes that the experience may be fodder for a new show; and that with her recent mastectomy she is becoming more like one of her popular characters, Ken. Jools and Lynda Topp were born in Huntly in 1958 and raised on a small Waikato dairy farm. They made their debut performance at the age of five at a cousin's 21st party. Back in July this year, Jools entertained the crowd at the 20th Anniversary of Homosexual Law Reform function in Auckland's Town Hall. The twins were very much at the forefront of the struggle for Homosexual Law Reform, as well as anti-apartheid, Nuclear-Free NZ, and Maori land rights. Ref: Radio New Zealand (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Monday, 16th October 2006 - 12:00pm