Angelina Jolie's prophylactic surgery

I was so sorry to read about her aunts passing

I also feel she will change things for all of us.

I wish her only the best.

It was published in the Toronto Star this morning that A.J's aunt, her mother's youngest sister, passed away from BC yesterday at the age of 61.

So, whatever you may think of her for going public, or having the surgery in the first place, she obviously knew what could lie ahead for her and her family.

Condolences to her and her family. To have her mom die of cancer and to lose her aunt to cancer...how awful. What makes her so different to those who post as relatives here? Nothing much I think. 

For better or for worse, she is a public figure and whether you or I "care" about her, the manner in which she has dealt with her situation has certainly created a public dialogue. Let's hope it serves the greater good.

Caryn

Sarajane, if you feel that way about Angelina, what does that say about all of us here on this board? If none of it is anyone else's business then what benefit do you derive from coming here? Are we to say the same about you? Why would you post here if none of it is anyone's business but your own?

Oh, gee... Most of the rest of us can come here and do it anonymously. Do I think it takes real courage to stand up in public and say i had my breasts amputated due to screwed family genetics? Damn well I do. I welcome her as one of our sisterhood. Why do you dislike her for that?

I'll tell you how AJ's public declaration makes a difference that a less public person could not have done.  If this news came out just 2-3 years earlier, I might have pursued my suspicion of brca more actively than I had in the past.  I would have made an appointment with a geneticist and bypassed the 2 doctors that poo poo'd my idea of being tested, even though my mother and 2 of her sisters had BC in their 50's as well as a grandfather who died of stomach cancer at age 42.  Yes, I got bad advice, and one was a gynecologist and the other a surgeon who does breast cancer surgery (though this was when the test first came out, so I'll give him that).  If there is one thing I've learned about about doctors, the y are not omniscient.

I think she has opened some eyes - physicians and patients.

Well said Kam! I agree completely.

I cannot tell you how obnoxious I find the comments that, just because AJ didn't have breast cancer - that her mastectomy was "elective" - that it, somehow, doesn't count.  That the only time it "counts" is when breast cancer has been diagnosed.  That the only time it's meaningful is because it was prompted by cancer and followed by harsh treatment.  That it's only meaningful if she comes to the boards and "gets down in the trenches with the rest of us..."

Good lord...

Selina...I'm with you.

Wow, it's interesting to read the backlash against AJ. She could have just kept quiet about it. I guess some posters would have preferred that she did. I for one am glad she came out with it. Clearly, lots of others argree with me.  

Of course, people are still amazingly ignorant, the media coverage leaves alot to be desired, people far and wide still don't understand, don't get it-okay, so it's far from a sea change effect - but at least there is a little more awareness among some.

I don't think it's about AJ giving out private information as it is about educating people to the possibilities; that as a public figure her message may reach many via mainstream media, who may otherwise never give a family history a second thought.  Who among us ever heard of brca1/brca2 before coming to these boards?- very few I would suspect.  I believe most people don't have the brca genes but for those that do they probably got the information from the mainstream media not BCo because they are not here on BCo and had clueless docs like Kam170.

It's only because I'm here that I now know the difference between brca1 and brca2 - and I've been on these boards for 4 years.  Knowledge is power and the more public figures share their humanity the better.  I think AJ sharing is just as important, maybe even more so, than Robin Roberts.  (and that's not a put-down of Robin).

JMHO

Sarahjane,

What exactly are we doing down here in the trenches that AJ might join us in doing?

"Where has her concern for bc been in the past..." Probably where mine was before I was dx with bc. I knew about it, lost a grandmother to it many years ago but honestly, didn't pay much attention to it. Much as I don't pay much attention to a multitude of other diseases until they have a personal effect on someone I know or myself. Why should AJ be any different than most of us in that respect?

Caryn

Being a recent BMX patient, I can empathize with her going through this ordeal. I support her decision to prevent her cancer. What disturbs me is how the media has portrayed her as a heroine. She has the money and means available for the best treatment. She has help with her children, house, bills, grocery shopping, and had a supportive partner to help her through this very agonizing time. The real heroines are the single moms who at best have average medical care/surgeons, who still have to keep up with raising their child(ren) alone, have no or little family, have to worry about how bills are going to be paid, worrying about how they can take time off from work w/o losing their job or having enough time to have paid leave, how groceries will get into the home, who is going to cook the meals, how laundry and other household chores will get done, how will the kids be driven there they need to go, how she will make it to her Dr appts, not having the emotional support when having to go through this process and has to go through the emotional roller coaster alone. I fully praise her bravery of coming forward and going public. That was probably not an easy decision. Having the threat of BC and making the choice to have BMX is not a decision that is taken lightly. Kudos to AJ for choosing her life over chance!

I'm happy she has made this public.

That said...I hope people don't jump on the bandwagon and think they need to go to this extreme (the ones without known risk factors).  Her case fit the profile to consider it.  Guess I'm saying...hope people act rational.

A breast specialist told me in all his years of being a doctor I was the second person he told due to the nature of my breast that I could / should look into that surgery.  I am very hard to screen.  I did...for me, it's not the right choice at this time.  From what I have read, it's not an easy surgery nor is it easy down the road.  I have autoimmune conditions that could be made worse by the stress and who knows what tomorrow might bring.

For her, it seems to be the wise choice considering her family history.  I have a friend who has that gene in her family and she was also proactive.