Living and Thriving
- Grease star Olivia Newton-John, 75, has infiltrated the hit Netflix show Stranger Things, at least in the style department. Netflix just announced that a character in season 4 of their monumental hit show is based off of none other than the stage 4 breast cancer warrior.
- Stranger Things character Chrissy Cunningham’s wholesome head cheerleader look was inspired by Olivia Newton-John's character Sandy in Grease, an American good girl, but with classic ’80’s bangs.
- Newton-John is a fan of the nostalgic show and her hit Twist of Fate was even featured in an earlier season.
- During your cancer journey, it's important to try to find happiness as often as you can. Taking care of your emotional health as well as your physical health when living with cancer may actually improve your health outcomes.
Grease star Olivia Newton-John, 75, and her “Sandy” character from the 1978 film, have infiltrated the hit Netflix show Stranger Things.
Read MoreSTRANGER THINGS 4’s new character Chrissy Cunningham has a ‘do that might look familiar.
Her hair design was inspired by Olivia Newton-John's character Sandy in GREASEvery American good girl and classic cheerleaderbut with very '80s bangs. pic.twitter.com/67lpkRGbcDNetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) June 2, 2022
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and here is no musical film more iconic than Grease! We are loving this merger of Rydell HIgh and Hawkins High.
Olivia Newton-John, often nicknamed by her initials ONJ, is clearly on board with this news as a fan of the show. Olivia recently posted a clip of a montage from season 4 that featured a photo of her during her “Physical” era (complete with headband) with the song dubbed over.
Currently, ONJ is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the song and did a re-release.
View this post on Instagram
Plus, her song “Twist of Fate” was featured in an earlier season.
In a recent interview, show creators Matt and Ross Duffer expressed that their series is not only set in the ’80s and features heaps of nostalgia-packed gloriousness, but the late '70s also “fall within Stranger Things' frame of inspiration.”
". . . part of it was us going back and looking at all of these movies that we fell in love with growing up, and these were the things that made us want to do what we're doing,” the Duffer brothers told Den of Geek. “And it's not just movies, but also that Stephen King late '70s attitude. Those are what we read growing up and what inspired us. I think the one thing that connected all of these stories for us was the idea of the ordinary meeting the extraordinary. We had a normal childhood growing up, but we'd watch these movies and we were sort of transported."
Understanding ONJ’s Metastatic Breast Cancer
Olivia Newton-John has proven that an advanced cancer diagnosis does not require that you stop living. Metastatic breast cancer also called "stage four" breast cancer means that the cancer has spread, or metastasized, beyond the breasts to other parts of the body. It most commonly spreads to the bones, liver and lungs, but it may also spread to the brain or other organs.
Related: When Breast Cancer Spreads to the Bones
And while there is technically no cure for metastatic breast cancer, there is a wide variety of treatment options used to battle the disease including hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted drugs, immunotherapy and a combination of various treatments.
With advanced disease, the goal is to improve your quality of life and slow the cancer growth.
The American Cancer Society reports that there were more than 3.8 million U.S. women with a history of breast cancer alive at the start of 2019. Some of the women were cancer-free, and others still had evidence of the disease, but they also reported that more than 150,000 breast cancer survivors were living with metastatic disease, three-fourths of whom were originally diagnosed with stage I-III.
And with ongoing advancements in treatments and options out there today that can dramatically reduce symptoms, there are many reasons to be hopeful.
Keeping Busy during a Cancer Journey
During your cancer journey, it's important to try to find happiness as often as you can. Taking care of your emotional health as well as your physical health when living with cancer may actually improve your health outcomes.
To better understand the role of emotional health and social support after a cancer diagnosis, we spoke to Dr. Dana Chase, a gynecologic oncologist at Arizona Oncology.
"We know from good studies that emotional health is associated with survival, meaning better quality of life is associated with better outcomes," Chase told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. "So working on your emotional health, your physical well-being, your social environment [and] your emotional well-being are important and can impact your survival."
Whether that means continuing to promote your music, like Olivia Newton-John, doing yoga or painting a picture, there's no right or wrong answer.
Dr. Chase says trying to do more of whatever activities bring you joy is a great place to start. She recommends writing down ten things that make you happy and intentionally making the time to do those activities throughout the day.
"Sometimes I will talk to a patient about making [a] list of the top ten things that bring them joy," Dr. Chase said. "And trying to do those ten things…to make at least 50 percent of their experiences positive throughout the day."
Contributing by SurvivorNet staff.
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