Angelina Jolie's prophylactic surgery

Yes i am pissed i had cancer but the surgery for many in this country is brutal, most women HAVE to live without a breast or breasts for about two years and if there is recon or not there is a lot more than small scars.........and public perception will remember AJ making it like its easy with little after effects and its not, and i stand by that criticism of her........

Yes significantly so depending on type of cancer, location and treatment plan, she had the best of the best option wise, nipple and skin sparing

Thanks beacon!

I think its great she s spreading the word. Surely no one will just rock up to the op thinking its a breeze, doctors will speak with them before that stage..



I am in discussion with a genetic oncologist and may have the test. But tbh I just want to take my breasts off now. Mum is currently stage 4. Her mum died the same way. As did my fathers sister. My fathers mum had ovaian. This may not be a strong family history as far as doctors are concerned, it may not be BRAC linked, may be something else so BRAC test may be pointless a it is limited to just those mutations. the c in my families may just be chance, but I don't want any chance. I want to take as much cautionary action as I can. I want a Mastectomy anyway...i want to know i am taking steps....Is this mad?.......

At this point the BRCA test identifies a very limited number of mutations. There seems to be a good chance that there are others yet to be found.



Lily,

I had DCIS and IDC in the same breast and was able to have a skin/nipple sparing mastectomy. Easy recovery, one step implants, great results. I know a few other women who had DCIS and LCIS who had skin/nipple sparing bmx, TE's and then implants. Neither of them had issues. It is possible! If you're using this forum as a yardstick, it's pretty stilted as those who have problems are much more likely to post. Does recon cause problems? Yes, for some, no for others and impossible to predict which group you'll fall into. That doesn't make my story or AJ's any less valid.

Caryn

Lily you are so right!!! She made the surgery sound insignificant!! I'm pissed about the whole thing. The media coverage that claims awareness has been raised...FUCK awareness. Find a cure, everyone knows about BC. The fact that she states back to normal in a couple days will create depression in patients having mx/bmx because they HAD cancer and are still in bed after a couple days, hell the drains aren't even out for a week or more! Small scars?? Really, the one across my abdomen is far from small. Her kids see normal mommy? Mine don't. And I doubt any child whose mother was forced thru chemopause and baldness, rad burns and projectile vomiting sees their mommy either. Fact is, she did not raise anything for BC, she didn't have a bmx due to BC she had a boob job. She is not brave or admirable. I respect her choice as I'm sure it was difficult, however, if I was given that same choice it would be a no brainier. No lost sleep, no stress, no feelings of control lost or betrayal by my body. Yes, I'm angry too, bloody right!! Not at her, at this disease but also for the media that glorifies the fact that the only option to prevent it is amputation. If AJ wants to help in this cause, make THAT statement. Amputation is the only prevention, and that's not acceptable. But do NOT simplify the procedures that I was forced to have. Do NOT put into people's minds that recovery is easy and quick. It's hard enough getting support and assistance after, women are supposed to be everything; mommy, partner, teacher, cook, nurse, the time we need to recover is cut short enough by demands of life, do NOT diminish that.

Thanks for the tip Beacon. Wow - talk about full disclosure. That was an incredibly informative description of her procedures.

Fmaury, lol, that's pretty much how I describe her. I'm so tired of opening a magazine and seeing her with all her kids. Like, really? You couldn't adopt one from your own country that is hungry, poor, and in need of love and shelter?? In my opinion, she just likes to see herself in the media.

How is it that she had a "boob job"? The last time I checked a prophylactic mastectomy was still a mastectomy. She had all her breast tissue removed from both her breasts and more information released today states she had implants with alloderm to keep it in place. She probably has no sensation across her chest as most women who have had a MX experience. I had a mastectomy too and have a silicone implant - I did not have a "boob job".

When she refers to her scars, it also relates as to how her children see her. Every now and then I jokingly refer to my chest as Frankenboob - it pisses the hell out of my husband but to my kids (8 and 4) its "Mommy" and I'm sure her kids see her that way too.

She's just telling her story. She doesn't have to breakdown in her article the different types of mastectomies or plan A or B or C or if you are a lady in XYZ situation you can do this, this, this. This is her situation, her story. She is not speaking for other women. She can't talk about huge scars that she incurred because I doubt she had an ALND and I doubt that she had a dIEP. I don't think she was minimizing people's experiences but just telling her story.

I endured hellish chemo, radiation burns and the loss of my breast. If someone told me 5 years ago that I had an 87% chance of getting BC and there was a way for me NOT to get it and NOT to go through hell on earth I would probably do the same. She watched her mom die of ovarian cancer as well. I don't think this is a decision she chose lightly. 

She made a career on making movies, can you imagine acting out a lovescene? My eyes would have to be open to know that my boob is being touched I don't know how she'll manage.

"She's just telling her story" Yes, that's it, plain and simple. I don't read anything more into it than that. As for questioning where she has adopted her children from, that is simply out of line. I have known many people who have adopted children from other countries for a variety of reasons. It is a personal decision and one that we have no right to question.

Joanquilts,

                 You are very talented with words, I loved your article. Did you also do the sketch of Angelina? If you did then it's really great. I hope Angelina gets to read it.

Another thought I had regarding the "tiny scar" comment: I was with my mom when she had her first diagnosis and mastectomy 26 years ago. That surgery was done by a general surgeon. Mom did not have reconstruction. Went through my mom's second diagnosis and mastectomy about 8 years ago. Again, no recon. The cosmetic difference between those two surgeries was quite vast. And then my own BMX this past fall, performed by a good breast surgeon and closed by my PS after he placed TE's....



My scars, though the line goes from near my armpit, across each breast probably 3/4's of the way ARE tiny in comparison to my mom's first surgery. Angelina's nipple sparing scars would be even smaller/less noticeable. I do not know when her mother had her mastectomies, but the comparison to what she saw on HER mom quite possibly matches my experience. When I chose to go with a double mastectomy following a very early IDC catch, I chose so with the image of my mom's first surgery results. I have been pleasantly surprised by my results. Not perfect, not the real thing, not something I would wish on anyone.....but vastly better than what I had anticipated.

All you AJ LOVERS are unbelievable!! Read it again, then read scholarly articles about prophylactic mx. She had a senseless surgery. She is after attention because her career is sagging and her and her "brood" are out of the limelight. Yes BOB JOB compared to what I had, she had a boob job.



Stop idolizing what one woman did, many before have done the same without all the media fuss.

hate talk is so unflattering

Joan your article is very nicely written. I wrote this this morning on STFU thread and am reposting it here.

2 hours ago, edited 2 hours ago    by sas-schatzi

I'm going to take the side of Jolie. She could have made the media splash a self promoting thing. In reading her words, they are carefully chosen to teach others something about BC and what may save their lives. No other actor has done it this way. Her work with the United Nations for years is well publicized. Any Power person that has done this knows the benefit of a Name being attached to a cause. In many cases the media wouldn't comment on the "cause" without the Star being there. Princess Diana, Audrey Hepburn, Matt Damon, Bob Hope, even Mother Theresa, countless others have done this. Jolie's present project with the UN announced the same day, or given media coverage on the day of the BC thing, is on the Un's initiative to bring awareness of, and fight against the rape of women in waring countries through the Geneva Convention rules. That rape of women in war would be treated alongside other atrocities and the prepatrators be held accountable and punished. Yes, her face and bod are photographed through these political "shows', but the media is there in part because she is there.

I know using Mother Theresa and Jolie in the same sentence sounds out there. But MT did the same thing in her travels around the world. Media would cover where she went. So, she went. This brought much needed exposure to the plight of the poor.

Are there women and men today that know more about BC, than they knew the day before Jolie's announcement? Are there more that know about genetic history and Braca genes? Are there more that know that having a first degree relative changes their risk? Are there more that know that there is an elective route?

I'll bring the link here again, apply the questions to what she has written. See how many things she taught in the one article.

www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opi...

Remember we, regretfully, are saturated with all that is BC. What did we know beyond the yearly Mammo, before we got the "call". How many posts and threads deal daily with the STUPIDS. Are those STUPIDS less stupid today, I hope. I believe Jolie has hepled.