1. Trust your gut instinct

“Women get lumps and bumps and our breasts go up and down; often it’s nothing, but if it is malignant, the earlier you find out, the better. In 1992, I discovered a lump during a routine self-examination, which a mammogram then confirmed as negative. I’d had lumps before, but this felt different; it was very tender (though that’s often not the case),and I had no energy. I had a feeling that something wasn’t right, so I went back to my doctor. Luckily, he was sympathetic and suggested a needle biopsy, which was also negative, but he followed it up with a surgical biopsy to be certain, and that revealed I had cancer. It’s uncommon for both a mammogram and needle biopsy to show a false negative, so I don’t say it to worry women but simply to stress how important it is to trust your instincts – I’m relieved I did. I had a partial mastectomy and breast reconstruction within weeks. The surgery was a shock for my body but I knew it was getting rid of the cancer. I had a six-year-old daughter to worry about and just wanted to be healthy again.”

2. Go somewhere you can’t be heard and scream

“Cancer doesn’t just affect our bodies – it affects our emotions, too. It’s incredibly important to release all the pent-up pain, anger and fear that you’re bound to be feeling, whether you do it by going for a run around the block or by screaming loudly in the shower. I found counselling invaluable in helping me get breast cancer off my chest – there’s an unhappy pun! I also used visualisation techniques, where I’d imagine my dog running through my body, eating up the cancerous cells. Cancer taught me to put myself first sometimes. Like most women, it’s in my psyche to take care of everyone else, but even now, I still take time for myself during the day, even if it’s just going for a short walk.”

3. Get someone else to tell everyone

“When the second friend I called with news of my diagnosis burst into tears, I asked my sister and a friend to make the rest of the calls so I could focus on being positive. It’s hard enough coping with your own fear without having to deal with other people’s, too. My best friend Nancy’s husband is a Buddhist and his first reaction was, ‘Well, congratulations – now you will grow.’ At the time I thought it was a bizarre statement but, looking back, I understand what he meant. My experience has inspired me to spend the past ten years raising money to set up the Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

4. Talk to a survivor

“A colleague put me in touch with a woman who had been through the same treatment. I was able to ask her what it was really like; she’d been there and got through it, which I found invaluable and it just helped talking to someone who really understood my fears.”

Read the rest of Olivia's eight tips in part two of her interview with Evie Leatham.