Angelina Jolie has double masectomy

Due to her cancer gene, Angelina Jolie has decided to have a double masectomy to reduce the chances of getting breast cancer.

Her doctors estimated she had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer. She wrote, "I decided to be proactive and to minimise the risk as much I could."

Would you do the same if you were in her shoes?

Edit: Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22520720

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

Jam'

15

The same thing.

She is an incredibly brave and courageous woman to be so strong through this. She is a very good role model and I do hope that people are inspired by her to be proactive (both men and women) against the threat of cancer.

:'(

Good on Jolie.
But I am finding her constant and persistent , Bono-esque , self-indulgent and egoistical drive for self-publicity and self-promotion tedious and dull. It constantly has to be about her, and her somewhat hedonistic mission to become some sort of Hollywood Mother Theresa which involves adopting a thousand ethnic babies, being the face of a zillion charities and securing any chance for a press interview or magazine article about these pursuits.

Reply 4

_char

I think it was a very brave decision. I'm also glad she's emphasising how it hasn't made her feel like she's lost her femininity, and her story has probably given strength to many other women in the same position.

Reply 5

Ronove

18

Original post by The_Last_Melon

I can't help but think it's a little insane to chop your breasts off because a group of doctors think it's a good idea. I would not be doing that to my balls in any circumstance. I'd just rather hedge my bets. There are plenty of stories of doctors telling patients they wont walk and then they end up being able to...I think someone needs to be checking the accuracy of the doctor's estimations otherwise they're just cutting up people at random.

EDIT: bound to get negged because of the hero-worship of doctors that seems ubiquitous nowadays.

I think the negs you'll inevitably get will be for the complete lack of logic or critical engagement in your post.

Reply 6

diggy

19

Original post by penguinman1

Good on Jolie.
But I am finding her constant and persistent , Bono-esque , self-indulgent and egoistical drive for self-publicity and self-promotion tedious and dull. It constantly has to be about her, and her somewhat hedonistic mission to become some sort of Hollywood Mother Theresa which involves adopting a thousand ethnic babies, being the face of a zillion charities and securing any chance for a press interview or magazine article about these pursuits.

It's easy to see where your coming from but her charity work has helped loads of people plus she gets good publicity so everyones a winner

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Reply 7

The_Last_Melon

3

Original post by Ronove

I think the negs you'll inevitably get will be for the complete lack of logic or critical engagement in your post.

If only TSR worked like that :daydreaming:

Edit: I have a strange unfounded grudge against doctors. I'll work on eradicating it :erm:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

priya8D

9

Its surprising how she has kept it hidden from Hollywood since February, especially since she travelled to Africa during her UN trip. I admire Angelina's bravery in sharing such a personal aspect of her life to the world and raising awareness to this 'unspoken' issue. Good on you.

Reply 9

Darth Stewie

15

Never really took a liking to her but this will help a lot of women who are faced with the same decision not feel like having their breasts removed makes them deformed or unfeminine so gota give her massive props for that. It is a very brave thing for her as an individual to do as well as she is in the public eye so often.

Reply 10

Jordan-James

8

That must of taken some damn courage.

I hope it gets rid of her cancer problem, if she was to somehow still get cancer then that would be pretty devastating.

Reply 11

ckingalt

14

Original post by penguinman1

Good on Jolie.
But I am finding her constant and persistent , Bono-esque , self-indulgent and egoistical drive for self-publicity and self-promotion tedious and dull. It constantly has to be about her, and her somewhat hedonistic mission to become some sort of Hollywood Mother Theresa which involves adopting a thousand ethnic babies, being the face of a zillion charities and securing any chance for a press interview or magazine article about these pursuits.

I mostly agree here. I've lost a loved one to breast cancer and I applaud her effort to use her own notoriety to raise awareness for a test which can detect such a significant susceptibility to breast cancer. However, I interpret her motives as being less heroic and more self indulgent.

I must acknowledge that this is a mostly male perspective with little consideration given to the very real psychological factors involved. However, what great tangible sacrifice has miss Jolie made here? She was faced with a near certainty of having breast cancer in her future. The only logical option is the one she chose. She then utilized her considerable resources to obtain the best plastic surgery available on this planet. She then trades her real boobs for what is most likely the most perfect pair of surgically enhanced ones money can buy. She gets a healthier prognosis for her future and a better set of tits. Not a hard choice to make.

She probably does deserve some recognition for sharing a very personal issue with the public in the interest of raising awareness. Oh wait, most celebrities are inevitably egotistical, attention craving, narcissists who would gladly trade their personal privacy in the pursuit of the validation that the public's admiration can offer.

Angelina Jolie hasn't had a blockbuster movie in a long while has she?

Reply 12

therisenmitten

12

I think it's very brave but can't help but think it is slightly unusual.

Is it common for doctors to perform such operations as a preventative measure? I thought it was only something done as treatment.
Also how common is it for people to have their genes analysed to determine their cancer risk? and how accurate are the results?

Either way it's good that she's doing everything possible to be around for her children.

Reply 13

Nfergs

OP

19

Original post by therisenmitten

I think it's very brave but can't help but think it is slightly unusual.

Is it common for doctors to perform such operations as a preventative measure? I thought it was only something done as treatment.
Also how common is it for people to have their genes analysed to determine their cancer risk? and how accurate are the results?

Either way it's good that she's doing everything possible to be around for her children.

I wouldn't say that it's unusual although I was quite shocked when I heard the news although it's probably more the fact because it's Angelina Jolie that had it done after all.

I thought the same as I had never heard of doctors ever carrying out a mastectomy as a preventation measure until I heard about this story. When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer her doctor asked if any other women in the family had previously had breast cancer although there wasn't any analysis to check for a cancer gene.

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(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 14

thunder_chunky

19

A brave move, best of luck to her.

Angelina Jolie has double masectomy

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