Even though she’s been battling cancer on and off for the past three decades, Olivia Newton-John couldn’t feel more blessed. While recently chatting with Entertainment Tonight, the iconic Grease actress recalled her milestone 70th birthday in September 2018 and revealed why it was such a special celebration.

“I was in a lot of pain and I ended up being a patient on my 70th birthday in my hospital,” the 71-year-old beauty recently divulged of her second-most recent birthday. “Which was really amazing. I mean, it sounds strange to say, but it was really a gift because I got to experience what I helped create.”

olivia-newton-john-recalls-70-birthday-in-hospital
Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Olivia was sadly hospital-ridden that year after she was diagnosed with a tumor in her lower back just days before. Although she was celebrating the big 7-0, the stunning songstress — who previously battled two bouts of breast cancer since her first diagnosis in the early 1990s — gushed that the tumultuous situation taught her that finding a cure is more important than ever.

“The staff was incredible and the place was beautiful and so this makes it even more inspirational for me to raise more money,” she explained to the outlet. “So, we can do more research and see an end to cancer in my lifetime, which is my dream.” Aww!

John Olivia Chloe
 The Ones She Wants — A Guide to Olivia Newton-John's Family

Even though the four-time Grammy Award winner is fighting the terrible disease once again, she has her closest family and friends rallying around her. In fact, a source close to the Australian actress told Closer Weekly that she isn’t letting her health struggles get her — or anyone else in her life — down.

“Olivia has always been, as she says, ‘perpetually happy.’ She always says, ‘I keep going with a smile on my face.’ She’s always upbeat and sweet,” the insider close to the blonde beauty exclusively shared with Closer around late August. “That’s her character. She has said to friends, ‘I hate talking about my health. I don’t like to worry people.'”

Besides having the support of her closest loved ones, the “You’re the One That I Want” singer couldn’t be more content with the “career she’s had” and that “she’s touched so many lives,” the insider continued, adding a list of things she’s most fond of. “That [her daughter] Chloe has turned out so well. Her husband [John Easterling]. Her loyal fans. That she’s a survivor and will keep on enjoying every day, which she calls ‘a gift.'”

Olivia is such an inspiring person!