20 March 2023 , 20:58
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Tennis icon Martina Navratilova has revealed she is is now "cancer-free" after a devastating double diagnosis that left her fearing that she would not make next Christmas.
Navratilova - the winner of nine Wimbledon singles titles - was diagnosed with stage one throat and breast cancer in January.
But in an emotional interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV to be screened on Tuesday, the 66-year-old shared the news that she has now been cleared.
"As far as they know I’m cancer-free," Navratilova said, claiming she "should be good to go" following more preventative radiation on her breast over a two-week period.
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18-time Grand Slam champion Navratilova was forced to put plans to adopt a child with wife Julia Lemigova on hold when she discovered her heartbreaking diagnosis at the start of the year.
“I was in a total panic for three days thinking I may not see next Christmas," she said.
"The bucket list came into my mind of all the things I wanted to do. And this may sound really shallow, but I was like, okay, ‘Which kick-a** car do I really want to drive if I live like a year?’"
Navratilova revealed she is "cancer-free" in an interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV (@piersmorgan/Twitter)The Czech-American, who had breast cancer in 2010, visited doctors with an enlarged lymph node in her neck at the WTA finals in Texas.
She said: "I noticed that my left lymph node was enlarged and I thought it was from a shingles vaccine I’d had a week before. But then a couple of weeks on it didn’t go down so I called the doctor.”
Biopsy results showed Navratilova had cancer but she had to wait four days to find out where it originated in her body as she agonised over whether she was about to spend her final Christmas with her family.
Navratilova was forced to put adoption plans with model wife Julia Lemigova on hold (Getty Images for Netflix)Navratilova opened up on how she was left "very up and down" during the illness, as she embarked on a period of intense cancer treatment. She had radiation treatment every day for three weeks, mixed with three weekly rounds of chemotherapy which she stated was “definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done”.
"That was the hard part because the first week was both chemo and radiation at the same time," she recalled. "When you start feeling lousy you’re not sure if it’s from the chemo or the proton.
"I didn’t really feel the proton until week three but then you get a sore mouth and your throat starts closing. Everything’s swollen and very uncomfortable, and the proton makes your saliva weird.
Navratilova was tearful as she recalled being declared "cancer-free" (BBC / Jonathan Ford)“You don’t really taste things the right way. Chemo does the same thing to your throat but then it makes it dry. So, you’re just hit from all ends and I don’t think the doctors do a very good job of telling you how the s**t is going to hit the fan."
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Navratilova was then tearful as she was shown a video of her ringing a bell at a clinic to signify the end of her cancer treatment. She said: “I’m crying just looking at it again because you just can’t wait to ring the bell."