Olivia Newton-John Says 'Every Day Is A Gift' As She Fights Stage 4 Breast Cancer

Olivia Newton-John has learned to look on the bright side of life as she battles stage 4 breast cancer for the third time.

The Grease actress was first diagnosed in 1992, and secretly beat it in 2013. In May 2017, it returned and had metastasized to her bones. Though the disease is now more aggressive than ever, she still manages to see “every day is a gift.”

The 70-year-old shared her positive outlook from her California home with 60 Minutes Australia on Sunday:

“We know we’re gonna die at some point, and we don’t know when it is, when you’re given a cancer diagnosis or a scary honest diagnosis, you’re suddenly given a possibility of a time limit. So every day is a gift.”

For Newton-John, part of keeping her spirits high means ignoring statistics from her doctors:

“I don’t read statistics. If you believe the statistics, you’re going to make it happen. If somebody tells you, you have six months to live, very possibly you will because you believe that. So for me, psychologically, it’s better not to have any idea of what they expect or what the last person that has what you have lived, so I don’t — I don’t tune in. It’s just better for me.”

But she doesn’t categorize “getting rid of” the cancer as a battle:

“It’s something I’m living with. I see it as something in my body I’m getting rid of. I don’t talk about a battle or a war, because I think that sets up that kind of feeling in your body like you’re battling something strange inside you. I let it go and tell it to leave and talk to my body to heal itself and don’t try to make it that. Because that takes up your whole life and your whole being.”

The Grammy-winner continued, explaining (below) she’s not going to “become a slave” to the disease and let it rule her life:

“I kind of have a way of dissociating and compartmentalizing it. Otherwise, you become a victim, which I don’t want to be and am not. Or you become a slave to it, and talk about it all the time, which I try not to do either. I’m getting strong again, so I’m good. I’m back to full force again. I’m so lucky that I’ve been through this three times and I’m still here.”

Ch-ch-check out more from the insightful starlet (below):