Navratilova visited the facility as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The tennis icons own history with the disease dates to 2010 when she had a lumpectomy after abreast cancerdiagnosis.
I was like, how the hell is this possible?
she told the Hope Lodge community.
Its not related to the first one and not related to each other.
As she spoke with patients, Navratilova exhibited the toughness she showed on the tennis court for decades.
But her raw vulnerability also came through.
The possibility is always there.
You just have to believe that its not going to be for decades.
… At the same time, it puts you face-to-face with your mortality, whatever your age is.
Questions and responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
It was the hardest thing, other than leaving my family behind.
But, of course, I was 18, 19 years old when that happened.
So you think everything is going to turn out just fine.
When you get older, you become risk averse.
You know how many things can go wrong.
How am I going to deal with it, physically [and] emotionally?
Once the treatment started, then you’re able to see the end of the road.
The emotional part was easier, but the physical was brutal.
And, you know, Ive trained really hard before.
It was nothing compared to what I had to go through on a daily basis.
What was your treatment like?
The problem was that I did chemo and proton therapy at the same time.
You dont know whats doing what to your body.
Even a small thing like yawning, it stops the yawn because your throat closes down.
I got really cold, just shivering even though the room was warm.
Standing was impossible, walking was OK, slowly.
Thats what you feel like, a human collapsible.
So the chemo just kills you, and the proton slowly gets you tired.
And its all cumulative.
You dont really start getting better until after the last chemo; I had three chemo sessions.
