When this medical news regarding Angelina Jolie appeared in one of my trending searches, I was convinced it was some sort of mistake. The high profile Academy Award-winning actress, age 37, was disclosing a recent preventive double mastectomy.
Writing of her choice in The New York Times, Ms. Jolie explains that she lost her mother to cancer, and her own genetic makeup placed her at high risk for both breast and ovarian cancer. Her three months of procedures, which included reconstruction, were reportedly completed at the end of April.
Most of us worry about cancer at some point in our lives – more so when we have young children, as is Ms. Jolie’s case. We cannot bear the possibility of them growing up without us; we may have lost someone ourselves much too young; both make our fears all the more vivid. There’s nothing like parenthood to put life, quality of life, and no life at all into perspective. We make brave, painful choices when we perceive them as better for a child.
I recall a friend who lost one breast to cancer while still in her teens. Her mother died of ovarian cancer, and when testing revealed her likelihood of further cancer to be high, she opted for removal and subsequent reconstruction of the other breast. Like Ms. Jolie, she was in her thirties.
At some point in the future, she planned a hysterectomy – all, to maximize the probability that she would be alive to raise her children to adulthood, and to see her grandchildren – something her own mother was unable to do.
Some of you may have been through this. Most women I know, myself included, have been through a cancer scare at least once, following a routine mammogram. That in itself is harrowing, and surely nothing next to a diagnosis that requires surgery and followup treatments, the shadows that linger for years, or what Ms. Jolie has elected to undergo.
Known among other things for her beauty, her body, and her brood with Brad Pitt (the couple share six children), there’s no question in my mind that Ms. Jolie’s revelations are not only courageous, but do us all a service by addressing these issues, not to mention the importance of a supportive partner.
It’s worth noting the continuing numbers of women impacted by breast cancer, and the costs associated with genetic testing. Ms. Jolie writes:
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.
One can also imagine that millions of us would not have similar access to coverage or funds for expert reconstruction, much less the care for ourselves or our families that is required following surgery.
Naturally, this brings us back to issues of inequities in our healthcare delivery system, though that isn’t where I wish to dwell. Personally, I laud Ms. Jolie’s willingness to share her experience. I continue to fervently hope that fewer women and those who love them will ever have to face these and related wrenching choices. I wish more of us felt free to share issues of both physical and mental health, without worry about what others think, much less compromising our livelihood, or future access to care.
Image of Angelina Jolie, BigStockPhoto.
© D. A. Wolf
My daughter and I were just discussing this — I think she continues to show herself as incredibly courageous. She chose her children and her life. What a tremendous statement of strength. Thanks for this post!
I agree completely, Donna. It is indeed a statement of strength.
I’m not a fan of everything Ms. Jolie has done in her life. But this is a biggie – and publicly talking about it gives many women sitting at home, worried about how horrible such a procedure would be, a little more confidence to make that choice, if possible.
I love my breasts – but not more than my life.
I remember when Christina Applegate had a double mastectomy for the same reason as Angelina Jolie. What a difficult decision it must be to make, even with reconstructive surgery. I have mixed feelings about this preventive surgery because of my family history.
I lost my maternal grandmother and step-mother-in-law to breast cancer. Both had radical mastectomies. The cancer returned many years later, in the area of the removed breast, and metastasized into the bones and other organs. Their experiences and their deaths were very similar.
On the other hand, my paternal grandmother also had breast cancer and had a radical mastectomy. Her cancer never returned.
I truly hope that women who undergo this surgery live long and healthy lives, and never have to find out what it is like to get breast cancer.
Hi BLW,
Perhaps there are people who have the megaphone, for whatever reasons, either unfair or “fair” at levels beyond my understanding.
When I think of cancer, and we all have our personal relationships with this “disorder,” with varying degrees of intimacy, I sometimes think of the nature of a cell that divides and grows with absolute non-concern for the good of its “host.”
Healthy cells function with a view to the greater good, they reproduce and die, but the body many trillions of cells strong lives on (and that DNA lives on in children, if one is so blessed; but the DNA of humans live on in the species). When someone like Angelina speaks up FOR other women, in that moment she is like a mega-cell of wealth, power and influence acting FOR the group, or at least FOR the other women who, like children who at first “were not hers” until she made them so.
I agree with so much that you write socially and politically. When it comes to the virtual world you are an awesome “host” who invites others to connect, to care, to think and express. And while your megaphone is not as loud as Angelina’s, perhaps the relationships that grow slowly and organically between the many relatively quiet but caring are like tinder ready to ignite into a flame of consciousness when “powerful” people use their platform to speak of some sort of emerging truths that have long stirred in our hearts and which yearn for lived expression in our shared world: honesty, authenticity, compassion and loving kindness.
Five minutes after that’s considered “cool,” however that comes to pass, the zeitgeist might just suddenly turn kinder, more rational, less lonely… and the more that happens the more that will happen.
Angelina is like Tom Sawyer, not quite making cancer prevention “fun,” but modeling that health and the well-being of our kids comes before vanity, fame, etc. In this way, at least right now, she is playing the “heroine” in doing her actions FOR others (for her children, in honor of her mother, and for the group and the service of awareness).
Cancer is a huge issue, and so is poverty, health care in general, working conditions around the world, pollution, economic exploitation, etc. The real good news I like to see here, smack between Mother’s Day and Shavout (which is today, and I only know this because I have a client who had to reschedule because of it… and who taught me it means the day the Torah was given, which perhaps could symbolize a day when “higher consciousness” or “love of some higher unifying force” which we could analogize to Love).
So between Love of our “mother’s,” that which teaches us to care and protects and loves us, and higher consciousness, that which IS our best Self? We find ourselves, each with whatever choices and challenges we face, perhaps in a context of something kinder and more intelligently loving rising organically, unexpected… the “trending social media” alerting us to something that actually matters to us… and to seemingly everyone else.
What was once a “cold and broken hallelujah” (to crib L. Cohen) becomes a simpler, “Love you”
XO
Lovely sentiments here, Bruce. Thank you. It’s been too long!
This is such an important topic, and I have great admiration for what Ms. Jolie is doing to destigmatize it. Many women are faced with this choice, and may find themselves reluctant to go through with it because of their embarassment over the issue, or fear of losing some aspect of their womanhood. As a generational beauty and (let’s face it) an international sex symbol, that she could part with her breasts speaks volumes.
While some may discredit her because of how she came into her current relationship with Brad Pitt, I have a great deal of respect for her decisions to be candid and forthright about this issue. As the mother of a Korean child I also have great appreciation for what she’s done to destigmatize international adoption. Many celebrties choose not to use the microphones they’ve been given in productive ways. Ms. Jolie has and it’s to her credit.
Her decision will impact the way this issue is viewed by everyone. I think it’s a very courageous thing to do since she lives in the land where appearances are everything. Here’s hoping she will be a tireless advocate for cancer research so those who cannot afford this decision now won’t have to in the future.
I was surprised to hear of Ms Jolie’s surgery too – but can certainly understand her decision. How fortunate for her that she had to means to take this expensive preventative measure. Too bad so many, many Americans don’t.