The Jolie Buzz

Over the past few days the world has been talking about Angelina Jolie's op-ed piece in the NY Times about her choice to have a preventative mastectomy.  When I read the article  and a few other pieces I learned that Jolie's mother, Marcheline Bertrand had died of ovarian cancer when she was 56. I also learned Jolie carried the  BRCA mutation. I don't remember hearing about Jolie's mother until now.

Then the hoopla started. People supported her. People opposed her decision. People said she did it cause she was famous and it was a disservice to women. The twitter stream was alive with comments. The post "Brainless and boobless actress chooses mutilation over common sense" in particular prompted many comments from breast cancer survivors. Then there were more level headed opinions such as  "Don't Judge her..." , "Angelina and Mastectomy..." and "Opinion What Angelina Forgot to mention". 

I think much confusion is caused because there needs to be a greater understanding of what risk means when it comes to cancer. If you want to learn more about the risk of ovarian cancer there is a great video produced by NOCC in their Ovarian Cancer Education Series called Understanding the Genetic Risk for Ovarian Cancer. It features Dr Kristin Zorn. It is long but worth viewing.

All I can say is that I believe that Angelina made an informed decision that was the best option for her and celebrity or not she had every right to make the decision.

If she decides to have her ovaries removed I support her 100% but would like her to think about getting her fallopian tubes removed too- more and more research is citing that Ovarian Cancer may originate in the fallopian tubes.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!