Linda Evangelista just bared her chest for a powerful mammogram selfie
Three years after being diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time, Linda Evangelista is taking every opportunity to share the importance of cancer screenings. Most recently, the former supermodel, 58, posted a mammogram selfie that bared her chest in honour of Cancer Screening Week in the US – the first full week of December.
“On behalf of @su2c and during #CancerScreeningWeek, I ask that everyone realize how important it is to schedule an appointment with your doctor to create a cancer screening plan that’s right for you,” she captioned the photo, in which one of her breasts was pressed between the X-ray machine’s glass plates. “Catching cancer or pre-cancer early can help save lives. Flashback to my 2018 mammogram and biopsy.”
Fans and followers thanked her for spreading the word. “Thank you for being a powerful voice and inspiration ♥️,” one person commented. “This is what courage looks like. Thank you, Linda! #girlpower,” another added. “Good on you @lindaevangelista for being so vulnerable in sharing your entire life story,” someone else wrote.
Linda went public with her breast cancer journey in a September interview with The Wall Street Journal. A routine mammogram in 2018 first found ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)—an early form of breast cancer, per the American Cancer Society, for which she underwent a bilateral mastectomy (a removal of both breasts, per the Mayo Clinic). Then, in 2020, she learned the cancer had returned after discovering a lump in her pectoral muscle. Treatment continued with more surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
She’s spoken out about her experience now, but the model says she kept it private in real time. “Only a handful of people knew. And I’m just not one of those people who has to share everything,” she said. “I thought to myself, I will share this one day but while I am going through it, absolutely not. I don’t want the Daily Mail waiting outside my door like they do every time something happens.”
Linda said her current prognosis is “good,” however, in an October interview with The View, and added that Oncotype DX genetic testing revealed her chances for returned cancer to be high, which is why she underwent multiple forms of treatment after cancer was found the second time.
“Everybody’s story’s going to be nuanced,” she explained to talk show hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar. “And mine ended up being, ‘We’ll just get it out and give you some radiation.’ But I had a really bad Oncotype score. It’s a score that tells you your probability of getting the cancer again. They take into account many many things including genetics. But mine was bad.”
Now, the supermodel is on medication to, ideally, lower the chances of the cancer’s return. “I’m on fantastic meds for five years, they make you feel so good,” she said sarcastically. “They’re horrible. They’re hormone suppressors. They make you feel old.”
But she’ll take feeling old if that means staying alive. “I know I have one foot in the grave, but I’m totally in celebration mode,” she told WSJ. “I’m so happy to be alive. Anything that comes now is bonus.”
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