‘It was like a bomb had gone off’: Delta Goodrem tells WHO Magazine’s Most Beautiful People issue how her cancer diagnosis at 18 shattered her world
Delta Goodrem has spoken to WHO Magazine’s Most Beautiful People 2020 issue about her past battle with cancer.
The 35-year-old singer told the publication her world turned upside down when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 18.
She said of the diagnosis in July 2003: ‘It was like a bomb had gone off.’
‘It was like a bomb had gone off’: Delta Goodrem has spoken to WHO Magazine’s Most Beautiful People 2020 issue about her past battle with cancer
Delta went into complete ‘shock’ and ‘shook uncontrollably for 24 hours’ after being told she had the disease.
‘I remember that when I was first told I had cancer, my body went into shock and I shook uncontrollably for the next 24 hours,’ Delta said.
Delta lost her hair due to chemotherapy and said the changes to her physical appearance were ‘confronting’.
Health battle: The singer, 35, said her world turned upside down when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in July 2003 at the age of 18. Pictured in Sydney on October 21, 2003
Heartbreaking: Delta went into complete ‘shock’ and ‘shook uncontrollably for 24 hours’ after being told she had the disease as a teenager. Pictured on the Gold Coast on June 30, 2019
‘It was very hard to feel beautiful in an external sense – my skin colour had a green tinge to it, there was a lot of steroid effects and it was hard to feel good,’ Delta said.
She added that going through remission was just as challenging. ‘It was as if a bomb has gone off and you have to put all the pieces back together,’ she confessed.
After beating cancer, Delta said that her health remains her priority.
Struggles: ‘It was hard to feel beautiful in an external sense – my skin colour had a green tinge to it, there was a lot of steroid effects and it was hard to feel good,’ Delta said. Pictured in 2003
In the photo shoot for WHO, Delta stuns in a chic white suit.
She sits on the floor and gazes at the camera, with her short locks out in loose tousled curls.
Delta, who is known for hits including Innocent Eyes and Mistaken Identity, went through a year of cancer treatment.
This included eight months of chemotherapy and two months of radiotherapy.
She has previously said she ‘lost her innocence to cancer’ and the ‘world became darker’ afterwards.
Hodgkin’s is a cancer of the lymphatic system that carries white blood cells throughout the body to fight infection. It usually affects groups of lymph nodes.
Looking back: Delta has previously said she ‘lost her innocence to cancer’ and the ‘world became darker’ afterwards
The lymph nodes in the neck are the most common site of cancerous tumours in Hodgkin’s, but they can also be found in the armpit, chest, groin and abdomen.
The cancer can spread through the body via the lymphatic system and affect the bones and organs such as the liver, lungs and spleen.
Delta had the tell-tale signs of the disease for nine months before she was diagnosed. These included a lump in her neck, which grew to the size of a large plum, night sweats, exhaustion and unexplained weight loss.
Read more: WHO Magazine’s Most Beautiful People 2020 issue is available now