Opting to go a less conventional route came with its own set of challenges, particularly navigating friends and family members who didn’t agree with her plan.

“People thought I was crazy,” Elle, who shares sons Flynn, 26, and Cy, 21, with her ex Arki Busson, explains. “Cy simply thought that chemo kills you. And so he never wanted me to do it because he thought that was a kiss of death. Flynn, being more conventional, wasn’t comfortable with my choice at all. He is my son, though, and would support me through anything and love me through my choices, even if he didn’t agree with them. My children were extremely supportive in their different ways, but I knew they felt very scared.”

As for her ex, Elle notes Arki was “really supportive” though he “didn’t agree” with her holistic approach.

“Yet he wrote to me to tell me how proud he was of the courage I was showing,” she notes. “Of course he was scared because I’d decided not to take a conventional pharmaceutical route. He considered that extreme. I, on the other hand, felt the chemo and surgery route was extreme.”