Angelina Jolie Announces She Has Undergone Preventive Double Mastectomy

[Tx4obama]

Angelina Jolie Announces She Has Undergone Preventive Double Mastectomy

In an op-ed piece to be published in Tuesday’s New York Times, actress Angelina Jolie has announced that she recently completed a preventive double mastectomy. In the piece, the actress explains that the procedures have decreased her chances of getting breast cancer, from 87% to 5%, and that she feels “empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.”

Jolie says she is sharing her experience now in hopes that other women can benefit from it.

-snip-

Full article here: http://www.mediaite.com/online/angelina-jolie-announces-she-has-undergone-preventive-double-mastectomy/

- - -

My Medical Choice
by Angelina Jolie

MY MOTHER fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.

We often speak of “Mommy’s mommy,” and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me. 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.

My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.

Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average.

-snip-

Full OP-ed here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html?_r=1&

[Cha]

1. Good on Angelina

thanks Tx

[MADem]

2. Sort of like Nancy Reagan--though hers was not entirely preventive.

She had a diagnosis, though, before she opted for that solution. IIRC she could have gone the lump removal route, but she wasn't taking any chances.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/entertainment-breastcancersurvivors/8/

[Abq_Sarah]

3. She made an informed choice

And luckily, she has the resources available to make that choice.

[area51]

18. +1

If we had single-payer health care in the U.S., we'd all have the resources for this, should something like this be necessary.

[GoCubsGo]

4. Sad.

I wish things were more advanced so that women wouldn't have to cut off their body parts in order to keep themselves from dying down the road.

[woolldog]

7. Everyone dies down the road.

No escaping it.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

23. No matter how good medicine gets, it will always have a bleeding edge.

When medicine has improved to the point where there are safe, cheap, easy cures for things that are now difficult and unpleasant to tackle, it will also have discovered unpleasant and expensive ways to tackle new things; and so on as those cures improve.

[RedCappedBandit]

5. "I hope it helps you to know you have options"

Does an average american woman's insurance cover such preventative treatment?

[awoke_in_2003]

13. No...

With no cancer present most insurance companies would call it elective.

[cui bono]

16. Keep reading... she's well aware of that.

Breast cancer alone kills some 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventive treatment, whatever their means and background, wherever they live. The cost of testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, at more than $3,000 in the United States, remains an obstacle for many women.

[RedCappedBandit]

21. Missed that. Thanks. nt

[pokerfan]

39. No, but....

PZ Myers makes this observation...

The only glitch in this story is that this is America: if you’re not a mega-millionaire movie star, you’re not likely to be able to afford the expensive genetic testing, or the extensive surgeries. But maybe Jolie’s openness will encourage politicians to correct that, too.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/05/14/angeline-jolie-just-became-an-even-more-interesting-person/

[applegrove]

6. She's always spot on in how she goes

through life. Thank god this crop of Hollywood celebrities are so great at making the world a better more accepting place.

[Skittles]

8. brave gal

wonderful of her to speak out

[RudynJack]

9. Not a big fan...

but I wouldn't wish that decision on anyone. I can't even imagine...

[kiva]

10. I am absolutly impressed with her honesty in discussing this.

But the fact is that many (the majority?) of American women don't have the financial access to this sort of procedure.

[cui bono]

17. She mentions that in her Op-Ed. n/t

[kiva]

34. Actually she mentions the cost of the tests

that identified her risk for cancer - $3000. That is truly a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the surgery itself, not to mention reconstructive surgery (if she chose to have that, not sure based on the article), and I seriously doubt that many, if any, insurance companies would pay for this as a preventative measure.

Again, I'm not bashing her - I admire her for choosing this option, given her looks-based profession, and for writing about it - I am just stating that she is in a position to do this while the majority of women are not...which is a criticism of our health care system, not Ms. Jolie.

[CrawlingChaos]

20. My understanding is that she holds Libertarian political beliefs

In the past she has expressed an admiration for Ayn Rand and at one time was planning to produce and star in a film version of Atlas Shrugged. So I have to wonder how she envisions "improving access" - charity for a lucky few? Maybe she's changed; the article does not make that clear.

That said, I wouldn't wish this situation on anyone and I do hope her treatment will be a complete success, and that her biological daughters did not inherit the faulty gene. But mostly I wish that lower income women could have access to the great care she does.

[Bluenorthwest]

28. Your 'understanding' means 'a rumor I heard which is unsupported by reaity'.

Here is a quote form this very OPED.
" It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventive treatment, whatever their means and background, wherever they live. The cost of testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, at more than $3,000 in the United States, remains an obstacle for many women."
Note whatever their means, and also 'wherever they live' which means the world, not just our own backyard. Note that she knows the price others would pay and understands that it is too high.
Her work on behalf of refugees around the world has been excellent, self funded (pays her own way for those slow on the uptake) and she lives in the same conditions as the UN humanitarian staff she is there to help. That means the millionaire lady sleeps in a tent in Africa for weeks on end.
Which of these things suggest a love of the 'lucky few'? Which suggests a Randian outlook?

She is one an excellent person who does more to help those in poverty and extreme duress than most people.
Take a look at her work, her associates, her words and come back to tell us she's John Galt in the chapter where Galt volunteers half his life to help the very poorest of the poor.

[appacom]

36. Excellent mini bio of Jolie,

I am always amazed when people confuse the real Jolie with the rumored. Her political philosophy is as clear as a bell if you map the work she's doing around the world. She's truly a 21st Century Change Agent -

[CrawlingChaos]

44. It's not a rumor, it's reality

In less time than it took you to type that response, you could have Googled and gotten a boatload of hits on her longstanding admiration for Ayn Rand. And clearly, undertaking a major motion picture glorifying her hero's world view suggests more than a casual interest:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jan/28/books.film

And not only do I NOT admire her disaster tourism, I am largely disgusted by it. Celebrities posing for pictures with refugees never impresses me (it's what they do when cameras aren't clicking that does) - but her role as a useful idiot for the warhawks at the CFR is worthy of our contempt, IMO. Or did you miss the pro-war essay she wrote for them? I swear, people get so wrapped up in celebrity worship, they don't care what the truth is.

Her OPED takes no specific position, so it might as well say nothing.

[chillfactor]

11. I had a right-side mastectomy in 2000...

the cancer was already there....i had a choice between a mastectomy or removal of the cancer and chemotherapy..I have seen what chemotherapy has done to others so I opted for the mastectomy..I have never been sorry.

[laundry_queen]

12. Smart move, tough decision. Glad she's talking openly about it.

my cousin did the same thing. Her mother, most of her aunts and her grandmother all had breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer. Most died of it (including her mother). So, she decided to get tested (I'm pretty sure it was the BRCA1 gene.) It was positive. She did her research and eventually underwent a preventative double mastectomy and reconstruction. Since her own mother had ovarian cancer as well (she started out with on type of cancer in one breast...then another type in the other...then ovarian) I expect she'll eventually get that surgery as well, as she nears the age her own mother was first diagnosed. It may seem extreme to get so many 'parts' removed, but when you have small kids, going from an 87% chance of cancer to 5% chance is a no-brainer.

[me b zola]

14. But will she stop stealing other people's children? n/t

[StevieM]

19. Nope. She and Brad are entitled (eom)

[wickerwoman]

15. Can see her going in for a really awesome tattoo to cover the scars

ala:

[HappyMe]

27. I think she had immediate reconstructive surgery.

Giuliana Rancic had her breast tissue removed and the reconstructive surgery - I believe they are done at the same time.

[Neoma]

29. Reconstruction surgery is a bad idea.

Basically, you can't really get a mammogram after doing that and the risk of a lump going unnoticed is pretty high.

[HappyMe]

30. I think they remove all of the breast tissue,

so there isn't anything left for a mammogram.

[HappyMe]

32. I'm pretty sure that the technology has advanced quite a bit.

If I tested positive for this gene, I would opt to have it all removed. I wouldn't want to take the chance with any of the tissue left.

[Neoma]

33. Do you realize that might give you lymphadema?

[HappyMe]

35. According to a quick look at wikipedia

lymph node dissection, radiation treatments and any breast surgery can cause that.

[Neoma]

37. Well, they usually take out the lymph nodes because that's how cancer spreads to other parts of the

body. Besides that, you can get cancer on your lymph nodes. But I don't wish lymphadema on anybody.

[HappyMe]

38. I have had a bunch of my lymph nodes

removed from under my left arm - lymphoma.

[Neoma]

40. Yeah, my doctor died from that...

I've seen lymphadema go both ways I guess. No need for a sleeve in the day, in good health... Or in bad health, need for a sleeve and glove for all day every day and a compression cast to wear every night. Along with the inability to go into high altitudes.

[justiceischeap]

41. Where I had my first mammogram done, they also offer MRI breast screenings.

So, mammograms aren't the only option any longer.

[HappyMe]

42. I would imagine they would have to.

If you have smaller breasts, I don't think they would be able to get mushed into the mammogram machine.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

22. wow...even more brave when the world of film values women primarily for their boobs

Any other woman could pretty much kiss her acting career goodbye.

[LittleBlue]

24. That is so sad

A tragic twist. To have the world's most admired breasts and have to give them up. Goddamn cancer, what a plague it is.

Everything I read about her makes me admire her more. She and Brad are nothing like the aloof elites you read about. That article made me sad.

Good luck, Angie!

[PDittie]

25. "Killer Boobs"

That's the title of a book a person I know wrote recently about her own experience.

http://www.amyshealth.com/killer-boobs-now-available-1569

[Brickbat]

26. Respect. I have a friend who just discovered she has BRCA1 and she is considering her options; she

found this piece very helpful and comforting. K&R.

[1-Old-Man]

43. Preventative?

Am I correct that there was no cancer to be found? If so then I think she did the wrong thing. While I'd agree that it might be the right decision when the first indication of a tumor being present was found I don't think I'd do it preemptively.

[Merlot]

45. The test gave her an 87% chance of getting breast cancer

and her mother died in her early 50's after fighting cancer for 10 years. Jolie didn't want to put her 6 children through any grief.

I can understand why she did it.

[proverbialwisdom]

46. Update.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/opinion/angelina-jolie-pitt-diary-of-a-surgery.html

Angelina Jolie Pitt: Diary of a Surgery
By ANGELINA JOLIE PITT
MARCH 24, 2015

...It is not easy to make these decisions. But it is possible to take control and tackle head-on any health issue. You can seek advice, learn about the options and make choices that are right for you. Knowledge is power.

Angelina Jolie Pitt is a filmmaker and special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.