14 DAY TRIAL // In a piece in the New York Times called “My Medical Choice,” actress and director Angelina Jolie reveals she’s had preventive double mastectomy after tests discovered a “faulty gene” that put her at an increased risk of developing cancer.
Having lost her mother at 56 after a long battle with the disease, Jolie decided to have herself tested. Doctors discovered she had “an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.”
In the piece, Angelina explains in detail how hard it’s been for her to describe to her six children with partner Brad Pitt how their grandmother died and how the same would not happen to her.
Instead of waiting around for cancer to develop, she and her family decided it was best to take action, so she opted for surgery.
“Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. 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,” Angelina writes.
“On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work,” she says.
She goes on to describe each procedure and how long the recovery time is for each, explaining that the only reason she decided to go public with the story is because she wants other women to know that they too have options.
Cancer can be beaten by being prevented, she writes.
“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. 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,” she says.
She also mentions her partner and fiancé Brad Pitt, and urges other men whose loved one is struggling with cancer to be there, be supportive and loving.
“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,” Jolie says.
For her entire, extremely touching piece, please refer here.