Laima Vaikule told how America helped her defeat the disease
'29.06.2018'
Source: Teleprogramma
The famous singer told about her most difficult ordeal, about life in America and returning home, the main place on earth, and why it is so important to take care of loved ones.
In late July, Lyme Vaikule will gather his friends in his native Jurmala at the Rendezvous Festival again. Shortly before the festival, Lyme invited the magazine "TV program" to visit me.
“Jealousy is an indecent feeling.”
- Your festival in 2018 is four years old. Do you regret not starting this story before?
- First, I never live in the past. I do not think about what was or what could be. I am glad that there is. Yes, I had no time to start this before! Now I just arranged for the festival. Igor Krutoy was offended that I made him as if instead of the “New Wave”. But he did it for nothing, because there is no competition, no malice. Jurmala is my city. And he offered me this festival. By that time I had already made my solo concert and it was called Rendezvous - so the name was. I also invited several artists to my performance, so the format, in fact, was also. Just saturate it, that's all.
- How do you recover?
- I was once asked: “What is this festival worth?” I say: “Health, time, money and nerves”. This is all you give. And you get satisfaction at the end, when you see the applause and the faces of the public. That is what restores you.
- What do your ideal weekends look like?
- Ideally - when there are no worries. I'm at home. And nothing, that's nothing. No plans. We go for a walk with the dogs, swim in the pool, deal only with ourselves.
- How free are you in Jurmala? Can you go to the sea, knowing that you there will not torture your attention fans?
- We go to the beach. In Latvia, you notice the looks, but no one will ever violate your personal space.
- Go to the grocery store?
- Yes, I can go. Infrequently, but it happens. Easy disguise - and I'm ready. Maybe the disguise is no longer necessary, but you do it automatically.
- Are you a closed person by nature?
- On the contrary - I consider myself open. And my house is open to close friends. They come to me from America, from England. May call without a call. Although they never will. But they can. And at this moment I can be in any condition. They can wake me up. But these are only close people.
- Can we say that the husband is your friend?
- I am not married (smiles).
- Then how to correctly identify the status of Andrew (the beloved of the singer Andrey Latkovsky. - Ed.)?
“He is my friend, my beautiful partner.” I can share with him everything. Absolutely. Even if I have a great success at a party, I can share business cards that I received there (laughs).
- Is jealousy present in your relationship?
- Not. She was always considered an indecent feeling. Bad taste. Even if she appeared, we never paid attention to it. If we had conflicts over people, it was not out of jealousy, but because, for example, a person suits him, but I don’t. Although this is not a conflict. This is just a dispute.
- Do you think a long relationship is good luck? Or is it a long-term work?
- My friend told me that scientists were engaged in the knowledge of the human brain. And revealed three main stages of the relationship between a man and a woman. There is a passion. There is romantic love - it is, by the way, the most terrible, because physically you cannot stand it for long. And there is a partnership. Couples either go through all three stages, or stop at the level of passion or romantic love.
- Well, you have overcome all three, it turns out?
- Yes, it happened here, fortunately.
"When you are starving, it is impossible to sing"
“I know that you are a green party ...”
- Yes, I "turned green" (smiles). It seems to me that today it is no longer fashionable to wear fur coats and not to be "green." So we designate people who are worried about what remains after them. Do not think about the consequences - this is some kind of lack of culture, or something. How can you not pay attention to the fact that forests are cut down, that there is a bad attitude towards animals? Look, we push the beasts out of their usual places. It doesn't matter if they are foxes, cats.
- You do not eat meat?
- Yes. I do not like him. I can eat, but do not eat. I just don't want to.
- Do you have any other rules of nutrition?
- I can eat, eat, eat, and then not eat, not eat, not eat. You eat whatever you like. These are mostly buns and everything. And then you sew up your mouth. I sit on rice and water on such days.
- How many days do you need to get in shape?
- Well, actually a month.
- On rice and water ?!
- No, this is just the beginning. Then the food becomes so small that you eat just to survive. I once did it for health too. Starved at the clinic several times. It was great! I really love to do it. Just because I work all the time, I have to eat. When you are starving, it is impossible to sing. If you 12 days only on the water, you can not speak. There are no forces at all.
- For many people, you are the standard of elegance, good taste.
- Yes, they call me that (laughs). But I don't do anything specifically for this. As a child I loved to play with flowers. She didn’t dress up dolls, but loved nature. She could lie on the glade all day, watch the grasshoppers jump. I do not know where it came from in me. My style of dress is more of a protest. I do not follow the designers. Never look at tags. I choose according to the principle “like - dislike”. Is it comfortable or not? Then I redo everything for myself. At the core of my style is restraint. The main thing - do not overdo it.
- Was there anyone in your environment whom you would like to be equal in terms of appearance?
- Not. I have never had any standards or idols. I always knew how to. This is called a "heavy child."
- Did you have a big family?
- Dad, mom, three sisters. None of them had anything to do with music. Grandma only sang in the church choir. And I, by the way, have an alt, like hers. But never in the family was there any talk of music. Everyone knew that I sang well, but no more. I studied very well at first and was going to become a doctor. I wanted to know how a person works.
- You even managed to learn from the medical. Was this knowledge useful later?
- I think that I gained more knowledge on the street, communicating with interesting people who taught me to take care of myself, to watch my well-being. It is important to understand what makes you feel good and what makes you feel bad. By the way, it so happened that almost all of my most beloved friends are doctors. They are in America, unfortunately. But still contact with them instantly. They say that the most difficult patient is the one who has not watched himself. He cannot tell what is with him. There are some people who fall for the last, then they come - and nothing can be done to help. Therefore, it is important to control yourself. If the stomach is sick, immediately remember: what did they eat? You have to watch yourself all the time, to know yourself.
- Is this some kind of constant self-test?
- Yes. I am treated mostly by phone. My doctor is a person living in New York. He leads me about twenty years. Just a little sickness - immediately call him. I say that with me. He tells me what to do.
- How did you meet?
- We have known each other all my life, I think. He is from Riga.
“Before the illness, it seemed to me that I was immortal”
- You also lived in America?
- Yes, two years.
“You had no desire to stay there?”
- No, although there were suggestions. I had to stay there to continue my career, because I worked at MSA (the famous record company. - Ed.). But I became seriously ill, and as a result I began to appreciate something quite different - my family.
- You wanted to be closer to your family?
- Yes. And I even thought about the public from this angle: I wanted to return to my people. I was already collecting stadiums at the time. It was the peak of my popularity. I traveled from Moscow to Vladivostok, and there were stadiums everywhere - from five to forty thousand people.
- Oncology is always scary. How did you find the strength to explain to yourself that this is not the end? Do not fall into despair?
- There are no forces. And I had despair. When they told me that I was staying in America, that they would have an operation, I replied: “I can't, I have a concert in Moscow!”. The first reaction is a shock when you are pronounced a sentence. Then you start living with it.
I became seriously ill and finally began to appreciate something completely different - my family
- Do you accept the situation?
- Yes. But it's still terrible. I will never believe that it is easy for someone. Moreover, in America they tell you, draw, how the operation will take place, everyone tells you how many percent of people survive, what your chances are ... Everything is as it is. And this is also a shock.
- But this is probably better than not knowing anything?
- Yes, better. And I understand why in America it is so accepted. Because you have time to settle all their affairs. Most of all at that moment I recalled Russian fairy tales. Those where the father calls his three sons to himself and says to them: “You will get this, and this is for you”. This is exactly the state, one of the stages - when you want to settle your affairs. And this is very correct.
- How much time did you then need to move away from the experienced shock and believe that the disease is in the past?
- Seven years. The first five years is the time when everything can reappear. First you need to be checked every three months. Then every six months, then once a year. And then you have a better life. And the first time, when checking every three months, is the feeling that you are sitting on a bomb.
“You probably talked about this with your confessor?” What words of support did he find for you?
“We talked about why this happens to people at all.” From child to old man. The question is the same for all: “Why me?”. And he told me that it was good, it was a test. And do not be afraid of him. I retorted: “No. Everybody is afraid! ” And then he fell ill. And I asked him: “So what? Were you afraid? He said: “Of course, I was afraid, but not because I could die. I was afraid where I would be after death? ”
- You once said that your life will become meaningless when there is no one to take care of. Who do you care now?
- About all who are near me. This is my family. My dogs. And now another "Rendezvous" was added. If all this is not, then life is meaningless. And this is also a sin. You can not not respect every day that you are given. We need to find something to do, to help others. I myself did not come to this understanding immediately. Before the illness, it seemed to me that I was immortal.
- So, this test turned out to be within your reach?
- Yes, it was a very good lesson. In 30 years, you still do not understand that life can end.
- Mom did not even know about your illness?
- I did not want her to worry. Invented all sorts of nonsense ... Although it is a disease that can not be hidden for a long time. At that time, my dad was still dead, and I could not go to the funeral, because it was irradiated. Just could not leave America, was not able to. I told my relatives that I was recording in the studio. By the way, I had a terrific producer, American Sam Cornelius Phillips. I generally met so many good people in America! Nowhere did she feel such heat to myself. I was lying down. Some adults older than 70 came to my home, studied English with me, just visited. Somewhere I read that cabbage is very useful in oncology, and at six in the morning they brought me cabbage salad. When I underwent radiation, the chief doctor of this center, as he said goodbye to me, cried. And I cried with him. How much kindness I experienced in America in the most difficult time of my life! That is why I love this country very much.
- Why did you decide to be treated there?
- Because I found out about the disease there. And I had insurance for 100 dollars - regular, travel. But under this insurance, I had an operation that cost hundreds of thousands. Then there was radiation ... It's just fate! I didn't do anything on purpose. It’s just that amazing people turned out to be near me - my producer found a clinic, the best doctor I could find. I was so love shrouded at this time!
“But still you decided to go home?”
- Yes, because I missed you. Here is my place of power. If I advertised Jurmala, I would say that it is for those who want to be healthy. Here is a wonderful climate, there is no production. We returned to the river crayfish. Awesome air. Absolutely calm people. Safely. Well, a lot of things like that, because of what I want to return here.
- Why are you so good here?
- This is my home. I immediately recall one case. We shot the program "People's Artist" in Moscow. The shooting lasted four months. And once we noticed a dog that sat in a puddle under the bus. Called her Waffle. I bought her a house so that she would not be wet in the rain. Then we decided with a friend that it should be sterilized. For some time after the operation, Waffle lived in a good house, slept on the couch. But you should have seen a dog when we brought her back to the place where she used to be! What flips and somersaults she made for joy! Still, the house is the most important place on earth. That is why I love Jurmala so much.
