Olivia Newton-John refuses to be a cancer 'statistic'

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Olivia Newton-John refuses to be another cancer "statistic".

The 'Grease' legend was diagnosed with breast cancer in May - 25 years after recovering from the life-threatening illness - but she refuses to research the numbers who have died from cancer after being diagnosed a second time around because it is "depressing" to read.

She said: "I think that can be really depressing, and I'm not going to be one of those statistics. I'm going to be fine. I think you can live with cancer like you can live with other things if you take care of yourself.

"I think it taught me I'm stronger than I thought I was. Because even though you have a team around you and people are helping you, really in the end, it's up to you. Believe you can do it and to go through it."

But Olivia was taken off guard when she was diagnosed this year because she didn't recognise the early symptoms the second time.

Speaking about the pain she had in her back, which she put down to a bout of sciatica, she said: "I would kind of grit my teeth and take a couple of Aspirin and go on. I guess I was sort of surprised and I never would have associated because, in my mind, it was over. I had finished with it."

Olivia self-medicated with marijuana this time around and thinks the perception that people use it simply to get "stoned" needs to change.

She told Australia's 'Today' show: "People have this vision from the '60s of people just sitting around, you know, getting stoned, and I think it's not about that. This plant is a healing plant. I think we need to change the vision of what it is because it helped me greatly and it helped with pain and information."

Olivia previously said her cancer left her unable to walk.

The 68-year-old star said: "The pain level was really the hardest thing. I was trying to do shows and it was pretty agonising ... I can walk, but I can't go long distances. But I'll get there, because I couldn't walk at all a month or so ago. As I heal I'll be able to walk more."