Angelina Jolie recently underwent a double
mastectomy after genetic tests determined the
actress faced a high probability of developing
breast cancer.
The Girl, Interrupted Oscar-winner revealed
the news in a New York Times column
published Tuesday titled “My Medical Choice,”
saying that she wanted to avoid the same fate
as her mother, who died at age 56 after
battling the ovarian cancer for nearly a
decade.
“I wanted to write this to tell other women
that the decision to have a mastectomy was
not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I
made,” Jolie wrote in the essay. “My chances
of developing breast cancer have dropped
from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell
my children that they don’t need to fear they
will lose me to breast cancer.”
The 37-year-old actress has six children, and
said they have sometimes asked whether she
might also end up with the illness that took
their grandmother, Marcheline Bertrand, in
2007. “I have always told them not to worry,
but the truth is I carry a ‘faulty’ gene,
BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of
developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer,”
Jolie wrote.
“Once I knew that this was my reality, I
decided to be proactive and to minimize the
risk as much I could,” she added. “I made a
decision to have a preventive double
mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my
risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of
ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more
complex.”
Astoundingly, one of the most watched human
beings on the planet was able to keep her
treatment completely secret through three
months of surgeries, despite being followed
by paparazzi seemingly everywhere she goes.
Her voluntary revelation now could raise an
astronomical amount of awareness —
potentially saving the lives others unfamiliar
with this kind of testing or preventative
measure.
In her column, Jolie said she decided to open
up about it “because there are many women
who do not know that they might be living
under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope
that they, too, will be able to get gene tested,
and that if they have a high risk they, too, will
know that they have strong options.”
She said a prime concern is helping middle-
and lower-income people. “The cost of
testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, at more than
$3,000 in the United States, remains an
obstacle for many women.”
And coming from a celebrity often ranked as
one of the most beautiful women in the
world, Jolie could have a profound supportive
influence on those facing similar treatment —
since one of the most agonizing parts of the
decision is what it will do to the patient’s
appearance and sense of self.
She acknowledged those potential
psychological effects in her op-ed. “On a
personal note, I do not feel any less of a
woman,” she wrote. “I feel empowered that I
made a strong choice that in no way
diminishes my femininity.”
Jolie credited her partner, Brad Pitt, for
helping her through the arduous series of
procedures, which began on Feb. 2 and ended
on April 27. ”So to anyone who has a wife or
girlfriend going through this, know that you
are a very important part of the transition,”
Jolie wrote. “Brad was at the Pink Lotus
Breast Center , where I was treated, for every
minute of the surgeries. We managed to find
moments to laugh together. We knew this was
the right thing to do for our family and that it
would bring us closer. And it has.”
She said her regimen will eventually be made
public and posted on the Web site of the Pink
Lotus Breast Center, but Jolie also delved into
fairly specific detail in her essay, describing
the so-called “nipple delay” procedure
designed to save that part of the body, the
later surgery to remove her breast tissue, and
the subsequent reconstruction.
“You wake up with drain tubes and expanders
in your breasts. It does feel like a scene out
of a science-fiction film. But days after
surgery you can be back to a normal life,” she
said. “Nine weeks later, the final surgery is
completed with the reconstruction of the
breasts with an implant. There have been
many advances in this procedure in the last
few years, and the results can be beautiful.”
Though her children still ask questions, Jolie
says the answers now are more reassuring:
“They know that I love them and will do
anything to be with them as long as I can.”
Her reps had no immediate further comment.
Jolie’s next screen role will be as the title
character in Disney’s live-action Maleficient,
a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story from
the perspective of the villain. It’s set to open
in July 2014.
The actress who made her directorial debut
with the 2011 Bosnian War drama In the Land
of Blood and Honey, is also planning to direct
her second feature. This would be an
adaptation of Lauren Hillebrand’s best-selling
non-fiction book Unbroken, about a former
Olympian who was captured by the Japanese
Navy while serving as an Air Force pilot in
World War II.
source:insidemovies
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