Lesbian tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with breast cancer. The nine-time Wimbledon singles champion has told People Magazine she cried when a biopsy came back positive on 24 February after a routine mammogram. "It knocked me on my ass, really," the 53-year-old said. "I feel so in control of my life and my body, and then this comes and it's completely out of my hands." The Guardian reports she has a non-invasive form of the cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ, which means the cancer is confined to the milk ducts and has not spread to the surrounding tissue. She has had a lumpectomy and will undergo radiation therapy in May. Navratilova said she is very lucky to have had the cancer picked up so early. However, she admitted she had "let it slide" by going four years between mammograms, and said: "Another year and I could have been in big trouble." She says battling cancer has been even tougher than battling her toughest tennis opponents. "The day I was told I had breast cancer was my own personal 9/11. I was completely shocked and the news knocked the wind out of me."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 8th April 2010 - 10:21am