In an interview for the Fall Men’s Style Issue of WSJ. Magazine, the supermodel, who is 58 years old, said, “I’m not dying from this.”
Linda Evangelista has come out to say that in the previous five years, she has fought breast cancer not once, but twice.
Evangelista is featured on the new digital cover of the Fall Men’s Style edition of WSJ Magazine. The shot that graces the cover was taken by Evangelista’s close friend and renowned fashion photographer Steven Meisel. The supermodel, who is 58 years old, revealed the news that she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 2018 in an open and honest interview.
She explained to the media source that “it was detected in my annual mammogram.” “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 opted for a bilateral mastectomy,” she said. “The reason I did not hesitate was because I wanted to put everything behind me and not have to deal with this.” I had the idea that everything was going to work out well for me. “I was not going to let breast cancer take my life.”
Evangelista noticed a lump on her breast in July of 2022, and after further investigation, she discovered that she had a recurrence of her breast cancer.
Following the receipt of her second diagnosis, she said to her physician, “Dig a hole in my chest.” “I don’t want it to have a nice appearance. I want you to dig some holes. When you’re through, I want to look down and see a hole in my chest. Do you get what I’m saying? I’m not going to pass away because of this.”
She continued by saying that her strategy for therapy consisted of “just doing what you’ve got to do and getting through it.” “I just went into this mode that I know how to do—just do what you’ve got to do and get through it,” she said. “And that’s exactly what I did.”
Evangelista’s post-cancer care oncologist recently informed her that her prognosis is “good,” but the model revealed that she wasn’t fully delighted with the news, and she asked her doctor, “Why isn’t it great?” Evangelista is now undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for her illness.
She said that the doctor informed her, “Well, once it’s come back, there’s a chance,” adding that she also got a “horrible oncotype score,” which is a number that signifies the likelihood of the cancer returning. The oncotype score is a number.
Evangelista also said that while she does not know what the future holds for her, she is content to be thankful for each day.
“I know I have one foot in the grave, but I’m totally in celebration mode,” she remarked. “I’m totally in celebration mode.” “I’ve been through some very harrowing experiences with my health. I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m celebrating not just my book [Linda Evangelista Photographed by Steven Meisel], but also my life. And I couldn’t be happier. I’m overjoyed to be able to experience life. Anything that happens from this point on is a bonus.”
A close friend of Evangelista’s has confirmed what she has said, telling PEOPLE that the supermodel is back to being her hilarious self and is in a positive mental state.
“Linda is in the celebratory mode,” Evangelista’s pal tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. “With the publication of her book with Steven Meisel, the September Vogue cover, and now the WSJ. Magazine feature, she has a lot to be happy about.” “She has emerged on the other side of some protracted and very dark periods; as a result, being able to look back at her career and all that she has accomplished is something that she wishes to celebrate.”
Evangelista refers to herself as a two-time “survivor on standby” in reference to her battle with breast cancer. She maintains a positive outlook while still being responsible about raising awareness about her health. She said in an interview with WSJ Magazine that she is just now at a stage where she is ready to talk about her fight against cancer, and that she would do so on her own terms.
I have been silent about it. A small group of individuals were in the know. And I simply don’t happen to be one of those individuals who feels the need to reveal everything, she said to the publication. When I was going through it, I told myself that I would talk about it sometime, but not while I was going through it. I don’t want the Daily Mail to be waiting outside my door as they do every time anything occurs because I don’t want to read it. “This is the first time that Linda has been seen since blah blah blah.”
Donating a portion of the earnings from her book co-written with Meisel to breast cancer research is one way that she is taking control of the situation and doing it on her own terms. Meisel’s first retrospective monograph will be released on September 13, and the photographer revealed to the publication that he only completed the project because “Linda asked.”
“There was not a lengthy discussion that went into detail…. We got to work…. If you’ll pardon the cliché, I was quite laid back,” she said. The book narrates the tale of their relationship via the mediums of fashion and art, and it contains close to two hundred photographs that the photographer took of Evangelista over the course of almost three decades.
The whole article that Evangelista and Meisel wrote can be seen in the Fall Men’s Style Issue of the Wall Street Journal Magazine, which will be available in print on Saturday, September 16.
