"Such wonderful news from my dear friend" - Billie Jean King reacts after Martina Navratilova reveals she is ‘cancer-free’
Former World No. 1 Billie Jean King said she was happy to learn about Martina Navratilova's revelation that she is "cancer-free."
Navratilova was diagnosed with stage one throat and breast cancer in January earlier this year and feared that she might not make it till the next Christmas.
In an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, Navratilova confirmed the development and said she was free of the disease.
“As far as they know I’m cancer-free," she said on the talk show.
She said that she was "good to go" after preventive radiation on her breasts over a two-week period.
Taking to social media, Billie Jean King said she was happy for Navratilova.
"Such wonderful news from my dear friend, @Martina. We are so happy for you!," she tweeted.
Such wonderful news from my dear friend, @Martina.
We are so happy for you! theguardian.com/sport/2023/mar…
This is the second time that Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with cancer. The 18-time Grand Slam champion had earlier undergone treatment for early-stage breast cancer in 2010 and recovered.
Martina Navratilova was emotionally drained after cancer diagnosis
Martina Navratilova revealed that she was emotionally drained on finding out that she was not just diagnosed with throat cancer but also another breast cancer.
She told TalkTV that she broke down crying after hearing the news.
“I find out it’s throat cancer, I think I could be dying, but then I find out, no, it’s very treatable. Then when I had the biopsy on the right breast the doctor was saying, ‘This doesn’t look great’. That’s when I started crying on the table as she’s still poking and getting samples out of my boob."
Navratilova expressed her disbelief at the discovery.
"And I’m like, ‘Oh great, now I have two cancers at the same time that are not related. Who else has two cancers at the same time?’” Martina Navratilova said.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion also touched on how she and her wife had to drop their plans for adoption after her cancer diagnosis, lamenting that they had no other choice as it would be too complicated to go through during this already stressful period.
We were thinking about adopting but that’s definitely put on hold, and I don’t think it’s going to happen," Navratilova said. "I think it’s just too complicated and I only have so much energy right now,” she added.
The 66-year-old also said during the interview with Piers Morgan that she received a lot of help from good friend Chris Evert, another cancer survivor herself. She had words of praise for the American, disclosing that Evert supported her throughout the journey and had her back during tough times.