Angelina Jolie...........
 

......... has had her breasts removed.

She wasn't suffering from breast cancer - she has chosen to do this as a preventive measure.

Leaving aside the sheer devastation a woman must feel at the 'loss' of such an integral part of what makes her a woman, isn't the very idea of doing this as a precautionary step a terrible indictment of how the medical profession has utterly failed to defeat this dreadful disease? Millions have been raised and spent on cancer research over the years - for what?

I have this ominous feeling that, one day, a woman will take this decision..... only to find that the very next day, some scientist somewhere will announce that a cure has been found.........

You can argue about the percentages and probabilities (she probably wouldn't have contracted it - many do but the majority don't), but I just feel so sorry for her.......... what a decision to feel you have to make.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

said she had an 87% chance of getting it . Wonder how it will effect her career . Everyone will be looking to see what kind of reconstruction job she had done .

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

yup - it's something those of us with the dodgy genes seriously need to think about. :( I got tested when my third maternal aunt got breast cancer. It's something I need to think about. But... also... insurance companies don't cover preventative surgery, and it's incredibly expensive when it's not the NHS.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

reckon she's good for it .

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

well, yes, thanks.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

I'd volunteer to donate my nipples to the rebuild. but then I'd be worried everyone would be, er, looking at/for them online.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

if you read the article, she kept her own.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

I believe she has also had a hysterectomy.

I know several women my age and under who have undergone both procedures as far as I can tell once you've had the hysterectomy having the mastectomy almost feels right extremely tough for any woman any age to go through. She's the sort of woman I wouldn't be surprised at if she didn't have reconstructive surgery I wouldn't be surprised if she pulls back from her acting career and focuses on her charity work.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

Absolutely right. I fear we have seen the last of Angelina's chebs.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

I have to admit I only had a quick scan as celeb type stories give me brain freeze.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

The girl from married with children, Christina Applegate has this done some years ago - she had breast cancer and it could spread so she had them both removed and then a boob job. As far as I know it looks no different from any other girl with a boob job.

Must be damn scary though.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

Spugsy is right, it should look no different, unless you have your nipples removed. Retaining them means that you still carry some risk of getting breast cancer, but it is much lowered.

My mum and my aunt both had breast cancer, and I would have preventative surgery in a heartbeat, if I could afford it.

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

about US$ 30,000 I read LaLaLayla (1 dead g/mother, 1 dead aunt, 2 aunt 2x BC, double mastectomies, all on mother's side).

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

Does that include the reconstruction? Are you thinking about having it done, OS?

Re: Angelina Jolie...........
 

Yes. And yes. But I took the test 10 years ago when there were many false positives, so I'm trying to find somewhere to do the test again. And surgery has moved on considerably in the last 10 years.