Linda Evangelista wants her followers to take their health seriously.
On Friday, the 58-year-old model, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018, used her social media platform to spread awareness about routine screenings.
“On behalf of @su2c (Stand Up To Cancer) and during #CancerScreeningWeek, I’m asking everyone to understand the importance of making an appointment with your doctor to create a cancer screening plan that works for you,” she captioned the post on Instagram.
Linda Evangelista.
linda evangelista/Instagram
“Early detection of cancer or pre-cancer can help save lives. #standuptocancer!” she added.
Evangelista included a selfie in her post, noting that it was an old photo from her 2018 mammogram and biopsy. As she looked at the camera, a fresh scar was visible on her left breast.
The model opened up about her cancer diagnosis during an interview with WSJ. Magazine’Autumn edition of Men’s Style in September.
“It was discovered at my annual mammogram,” she told the newspaper. “The margins were not good, and due to other health factors, without hesitation, because I wanted to put everything behind me and not have to deal with this, I decided to have a bilateral mastectomy. Thinking I’m good and ready for life. Breast cancer didn’t want to kill me.”
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A few years later, she discovered that the breast cancer had returned.
“Dig a hole in my chest,” she recalled telling her oncologist after the discovery in July 2022. “I don’t want it to look pretty. I want you to dig. I want to see the hole in my chest when you’re done. Do you understand me? I’m not dying from this.”
After treatment, she received a prognosis update that was “good” but not “great” because she had a “terrible oncotype score,” a number that represents the risk of the cancer coming back.
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“I know I have one foot in the grave, but I am totally celebrating. I’ve been through some horrible health issues,” Evangelista said, adding that she’s “lucky to be alive.”
The advocate referred to this topic again during a guest appearance in October on View.
Speaking with Breast Cancer Awareness Month co-hosts, Whoopi Goldberg asked Evangelista if her two diagnoses were different.
“I think everyone’s experience will be different,” Evangelista replied. After calling herself “the biggest procrastinator,” she admitted she’s become “really faithful” to her mammograms.
“Everyone’s story will be nuanced,” Evangelista explained. “And mine ended with, ‘Well, just take it out and give you some radiation.’ But I had a really bad oncotype result. It’s a result that tells you how likely you are to get cancer again. They take a lot of things into account, including genetics. But mine was bad.”
The supermodel also revealed how she had to undergo chemotherapy and five years of “terrible” medicine.
Before ending the discussion, she added that she accepts parts of her journey. “I’m fine with the scars,” she said. “I think scars are trophies. I deal with the scars well.”
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Source: HIS Education