The actress revealed in a New York Times op-ed that she had a double mastectomy this year to greatly decrease her chances of contracting breast cancer.
But that was only part of the risk which carrying the BRCA1 mutation presents: It also increases her chances of contracting ovarian cancer by 50 percent.
In the article she wrote, “My Medical Choice,” Angelina discloses, “I made a decision to have a preventative double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex.”
From that, it sounds like although Angelina is telling us that while the most threatening of the two cancers has been thwarted and the more taxing of medical operations is complete, her battle isn’t over yet.
As she shared yesterday, her decision to be “proactive” about the risks came from watching her mother struggle with cancer for nearly ten years.
Angelina’s mom, Marcheline, sadly died at 56 from ovarian cancer.
It’s recommended by some doctors that high risk women considering an oophorectomy—surgical removal of the ovaries—have the procedure by age 40 (Angelina is 37) or when the woman no longer plans to have any children.
"Together with her doc and genetic counselors, she needs to decide if she's done having kids," Dr. Sara Gottfried, practicing OB/GYN and author of "The Hormone Cure," tells us. "This is a smaller procedure - you can take out the ovaries with a laparoscope and go home the same day, but it puts you instantly into menopause and needing hormones."
A side effect of the surgery is that it could trigger early menopause, but as we’ve seen Angelina display through this entire ordeal, she carries an inspiring strength and resilience that can get her through anything.
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