In a New York Times op-ed piece called “My Medical Choice,” Angelina Jolie revealed that she underwent a double mastectomy after genetic tests showed she had an 87% risk of developing the breast cancer that killed her mother at age 56. People Magazine says:
The 37-year-old actress had the surgery in February and completed the last of the follow-up procedures in April.
“I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy,” says Jolie in the column appearing Tuesday. “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.”
Jolie, who has six children with Brad Pitt, says the actor was at her side every step of the way.
“I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive,” she writes. “So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition.”
Pitt was with her “for every minute of the surgeries,” and even during the difficult times, “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,” she writes.
Jolie describes in detail her surgery and follow-up procedures, including receiving implants, and that now her children “see nothing that makes them uncomfortable.”
“They can see my small scars and that’s it,” she writes. “Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can.
“On a personal note,” she continues, “I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.”
I just hoped they kept a tight reign on whoever cleaned up after the surgeries, because I have a feeling genuine Angelina Jolie breast tissue would make a mint on eBay. I know the fake Angelina Jolie breast tissue I put up last week broke twenty bucks before the jerks made me take it down.
In other news…
Selena Gomez does tribal print in a triangle bikini. (Celeb Slam)
Will Smith said he lets his kids “make their own decisions” and that he “doesn’t pull the parent card,” and that brilliant method of parenting now has his fifteen year old son seeking legal emancipation. (Celebitchy)
Is Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby just Moulin Rouge with a hip-hop soundtrack? (Huffington Post)
If the answer is “Tom Arnold and Kevin Federline,” I don’t think I really even want to know the question. (Mandatory)
Video of Kanye West walking headlong into a sign and then freaking out and trying to accuse the paparazzi of making it happen. (Hollywood Rag)
Rihanna got a new lame tattoo of a lion head on her index finger. (Hollywood PQ)
This is why you NEVER stick your genitals into a hornet’s nest. Boy, if I had a nickel… (COED Magazine)
