Bloody Hell - Angelina Jolie

[LtEveDallas]

Have just seen this on the news:

BBC News

Poor woman. Must be terrifying to be given 'odds' like those. What a terrible decision to have to make, but the right one I think.

[dippywhentired]

You've really helped to reassure me, uwaga, so thank you! I hope that it will be negative, but if not, I feel that I could consider surgery to avoid living under a cloud.

[Lighthousekeeping]

I didn't realise how skinny she is until I saw her on the news today in Congo. Not that it's relevant I was just shocked.

I've just read this good article www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/14/angelina-jolie-double-mastectomy-women

[uwaga]

Happy to help, dippy. Good luck with the test - I hope you're negative too.

[RonaldMcDonald]

Seems weird and inappropriate for people here to pass judgement on Jolie's personality. We really know nothing about her that hasn't been fed to us through some media filter or other. Even if we did know her would now be an appropriate time to point out our personal negative pov?
(Just think if we were to believe the media Jolie has been obsessively planning a wedding to upstage Aniston/ is pregnant /is anorexic /blah blah shift newspapers make up any shit blah)

For my tuppence worth. My brother worked with her when she went to Kosovo. He said she was very professional, intelligent and absolutely focussed on what she was doing for the UN. He was surprised by how unlike a famous person or visiting dignitary she was. Meh.

I think she did an amazing thing today.

I simply imagined that we'd be wholeheartedly positive about it

[Lighthousekeeping]

I haven't seen anything negative on here about her. Grazia magazine is one of the worst for printing stories about her and the so called love triangle. They are in her face all the bloody time. Something like this makes you realise how difficult it must be to be a proper A lister. I guess ou train yourself not to read the press. I don't know how you ignore light bulbs flashing in your face every five minutes though.

[tiredteddy]

Dippy- I've had a prophylatic double mastectomy and reconstruction as I'm a brca1 carrier like AJ. I've been really pleased with the care I've had from beginning to end, counselling, surgeons etc. the results are great. I have tiny scars and and was up and about back to normal life in 10 weeks. I'm happy also to answer any questions you may have of course wishing that you don't have the gene.

[NicholasTeakozy]

I've just RTFT and one thing incensed me: the bloke on Twitter who said 'Poor Brad'. What a cunt. What Angelina has had done is as a result of her having a test which determined she has a higher than normal risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and the decision to have a double mastectomy would've been discussed by her and Brad in depth. I'm willing to bet all I own that he stands right beside her in this, given how fucking terrified she probably was, especially as this is what killed her mother at the age of 56.

Good luck to her.

[Perihelion]

On my FB someone had linked Dr Christane Northrup FB page. Some of the comments there are truly fucking bonkers. Self mutilation and allowing herself to let fear rule the decision for surgery, rather than healing with food and positive thoughts. Oh and 5 mins of self breast reiki......

[tribpot]

Yes, I would imagine Brad was slightly more focused on reducing the chances of losing his partner and the mother of his children than her boobs.

The only 'good' thing about all the media trollery is that AJ is the last person in the world you can imagine giving even the slightest toss what people think - she never has done, and fair play to her.

My reading of the article was that she hasn't yet had surgery to remove her ovaries as she focused on the higher risk cancer first.

56 is no age - I'm very sorry that she has lost her mum (and likewise the posters on this thread).

[Lighthousekeeping]

If you have your ovaries removed is that the end of it or do the advise a full hysterectomy? Without ovaries do you go straight into the menopause? Sorry if I sound abit thick. It must be do hard. The breasts are so visual and yet the ovaries must have a large impact on your state of mind as well as physically. Such alot to cope with.

[tribpot]

Not sure on the surgery front, Lighthouse but I think they would normally recommend hormone replacement for a woman of AJ's age after removal of the ovaries.

[printmeanicephoto]

This may sound strange but wouldn't you just pay to have very regular breast scans to check that nothing was developing rather than having your boobs removed.

It just seems a bit OTT. Appreciate that I maybe missing something here.

[Lighthousekeeping]

How regular is regular though? She said her mums was found in the very early stages.

[dippywhentired]

printmeanicephoto - I am not living in the UK at the moment and have been offered regualr mammograms from the age of 34 (10 years younger than my mum was when her breast cancer was diagnosed). For me, this would not be enough to give me piece of mind, as my mum's cancer was found in the early stages, had no lymph node involvement, etc. but it was an aggressive form and she died 7 years later. So, no, reducing the substantial risk of dying is not OTT.
Thank you tiredteddy, it is great you have such good results and a positive story.

[uwaga]

My mum's breast cancer was found by annual mammogram, also very early stages, no lymph node involvement. Nothing abnormal was seen on her mammogram the previous year. She only had a mastectomy; chemo, radiotherapy were not deemed necessary for such a small, early cancer. She died 5 years later. Cancer is a sneaky bugger, especially BRCA cancers it seems.

Speaking for myself, the stress of annual MRI scans, which I was entitled to on the NHS, was too much to bear. I felt like I was waiting for a diagnosis and am so much happier now that I have taken control of the situation.

I think anyone who has experienced cancer will tell you that life is never the same after a diagnosis. It's not a case of get diagnosed, get cured, resume life as you were. After her diagnosis, mum always felt that there was a bogeyman lurking in the shadows - unfortunately for all of us she was right. I didn't want to live in fear, before, during or after diagnosis, when I could take charge and hopefully avoid the whole thing.

So it may seem extreme, but for me it was the only way to gain peace of mind and I am a million times happier now that I've had the surgery.

[Punkatheart]

Ah some idiot spamming a breast cancer thread. What a star.

Let me spam you right back - you look as if you need a professional proofreader:

'best frend started doing this less than twentey months and just now repayed the loans on their house'

ffs.

Also - no one with any human decency spams a sensitive topic like this. FUCK OFF.

[1789]

A very brave woman, but I also saw this and thought it was interesting:

www.naturalnews.com/040334_Angelina_Jolie_double_mastectomy_breast_cancer_prevention.html

[EcoRI]

print You are indeed missing a lot. A diagnosis of cancer changes you and your family forever. The treatment can be gruelling and even if it works, you're left with the fear of the disease returning. And there are still forms of breast cancer that we don't have good drugs for. So yes, for many women, prevention is better than cure.

[uwaga]

For anyone who is interested in the details of AJ's surgery, her surgeon has written a blog about it here.

The procedures he describes (barring perhaps the nipple delay, which I have never heard of) are all available on the NHS and are certainly not just the preserve of the rich and famous.

[tiredteddy]

That's really interesting Uwaga. Not at all dissimilar to the procedure I had. Only differences being that my incisions were around the areola and the nipple delay was not delayed as such but part of the main operation. I also have strattice mesh (the British version) and expander implants. I have yet to have had these changed as I'm fine with my result so saw no need. However with time when the implants need changing I will. All done on the NHS.

[Oblomov]

I am not a fan of hers. I think she epitomises all the bad side of hollywood. She is famous for her lips and her breasts. But, I appreciate that this is something that you wouldn't wish on anyone.

[uwaga]

Same here tiredteddy. My incisions were around the areola and the tissue behind my nipples was sampled during the main operation. I have strattice mesh and a permanent implant on one side and a temporary expander on the other side - you know my (long) story! Hope your mum is doing ok btw.

Just realised that AJ's surgeon was a woman, my mistake.

[tiredteddy]

Yes mum is ok at the moment going for second try with an implant next week. Fingers crossed. Thanks for asking x

[Lighthousekeeping]

I didn't know she was famous for her breasts. I've never noticed them. I thought she was famous for doing some quite good movies and not being an airy fairy Hollywood actress. She seems to have quite a backbone and is compassionate too. I luvs her.