Nadezda Biljic Beats Cancer: 'Her Win, Our Win'
Toma Panic revealed on August 28 that Nadezda Biljic beat cancer, following a February diagnosis, a March hospital stay and an Arena concert ten days later.
Singer Nadezda Biljic has beaten cancer. She and her husband Toma Panic found out the disease was gone on August 28, and a week and a half later Toma used a lengthy Instagram post to publicly describe her treatment for the first time, sharing photos taken on the oncology ward.
Nadezda learned her diagnosis on February 5, right after a concert in her hometown of Valjevo. A week later, on March 11, she was admitted to the hospital in Valjevo. She checked herself out the very next day to celebrate her son’s birthday, then went back for further treatment.
Ten days after being admitted, on March 21, Nadezda performed at the Arena. The audience had no idea what she was going through. Chemotherapy and radiation began in late April, and according to Toma, she went in for treatment in the early morning hours so she could still take the stage that evening as if nothing were wrong.
Timeline of the fight
Toma laid out the dates in his post exactly as the family lived through them:
- February 5, diagnosis right after the Valjevo concert
- March 11, hospital admission
- March 21, the Arena show, ten days later
- late April, start of chemotherapy and radiation
- August 28, the news that the disease was beaten
What Toma wrote on Instagram
On his Instagram account, Toma announced the verdict on Nadezda’s recovery in a few words: “Her WIN, our WIN,” he wrote, adding, “This short stretch of the year felt like an eternity.”
Further down in the post, he described how the family chose to handle the illness from day one.
“From the first day we found out Nadezda had cancer, I told our relatives that we should all act as if nothing was happening.”
Toma said not a single show was cancelled or postponed while Nadezda was undergoing treatment, and that the public remained unaware the entire time. He also addressed the criticism the couple faced while staying silent about the diagnosis.
“Through everything we were going through, we faced enormous backlash for no other reason than that Nadezda sings,” Toma wrote, making no secret of the fact that the period was difficult beyond the illness itself.
He closed the post with a message to his followers: “Be kind, because that kindness can mean a lot to someone.”
They kept performing while staying silent
Until Toma spoke up himself, the public knew nothing about either the diagnosis or the treatment. According to him, Nadezda kept doing what she loved most precisely because it gave her strength, and the couple decided not to tell anyone outside their immediate family about the illness.
Our outlet previously reported that Nadezda Biljic was fighting cancer, and on the course of treatment Toma disclosed at the time, when news of the diagnosis first became public. The news that the disease is beaten, learned on August 28, now closes that story.
Shortly after Toma’s post, the outlet Republika also wrote about the singer’s health, though about a different chronic condition, diabetes, which Nadezda also lives with. That story is separate from the cancer battle Toma described, and concerns a condition that requires ongoing monitoring regardless of the outcome of her cancer treatment.
