Angelina Jolie Had a Preventative Double Mastectomy
CELEBRITY NEWSMAY 14, 2013 AT 7:30AM
In a New York Times article, Angelina Jolie revealed she underwent a double mastectomy in February and completed treatment on Apr. 27.Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Angelina Jolie is taking no chances. The actress, director and mother of six, 38, underwent a preventative double mastectomy in February 2013, she reveals in a frank, moving essay in the Tuesday, May 14 edition of the New York Times. Recalling the 2007 cancer death of mother Marcheline Bertrand at age 56 -- whom her younger children never got to meet -- Jolie shares that she carries a "fault" breast cancer gene, BRCA1. "My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman."
"Once I knew that this was my reality," the Maleficent star writes, "I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy." Late last month, Jolie completed three months of procedures.
"During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work," explains the Oscar winner. "But I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience."
The UNHCR special envoy then details the long process: A "nipple delay" procedure on Feb. 2, and major surgery, in which breast tissue is removed, two weeks later. "You wake up with drain tubes and expanders in your breasts," the star says. "It does feel like a scene out of a science-fiction film."
Nine weeks later, Jolie underwent breast reconstruction surgery with the use of implants.
"There have been many advances in this procedure in the last few years, and the results can be beautiful," she assures her readers. Noting that she's "happy" with her decision, Jolie notes that her chances of developing breast cancer have decreased from 87 percent to 5 percent.
"I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer," she says. "It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that’s it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was."
The worldwide sex symbol adds that she does "not feel any less of a woman" and that the decision makes her feel "empowered . . I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity."
Jolie went through the process at the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills -- with fiancé Brad Pitt at her side. "I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive," she writes.
"Brad was [there] for every minute of the surgeries," Jolie recalls of the actor, 49. "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."
"I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer," Jolie says of her decision to share her struggle. (The BRCA1 and BRCA1 tests cost over $3,000 in the United Staes, making detection a financial burden for many women. "It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventative treatment," she points out.)
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Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel Among VIPs at Obama Event in New York City
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Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel get political from time to time.
Along with various other VIPs, the longtimeBarack Obama supporters were guests tonight at the West Village home of Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman, who hosted the president and some of his top donors (including designer Tommy Hilfiger) for an evening of discussion about recent national tragedies and Obama's legacy.
The Democratic National Committee event was super-private and security was as tight as it gets—but, we at least can tell you that Biel and Timberlake were said to have snagged seats near the guest of honor himself.
Obama specifically touched on recent events in Boston and West Texas before addressing his future as the President of the United States.
He said that, after the tragedies occured—in two very different places—he saw so many people coming together he wished that he could "institutionalize" that, and take that spirit of helping and getting things done into politics. Obama asked, "What do we need to do to make sure that same spirit is reflected in our politics and our government?"
The president, speaking of his second term in office, also told the guests, "You start thinking about the history, the three-and-a-half [years] I've got is not a lot, so I've got to make sure that I use everything I've got to make as much of a difference as I can."
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Dancing With the Stars Backstage Scoop: Karina Smirnoff Admits She Was "Nervous" After Suffering Injury
ABC
"It's like a sport. When you get hurt, you either power through or you have to stop and rest and obviously we don't have time to stop," Mark Ballas says.
Dancing With the Stars' pros are warriors, y'all, which they definitely proved on Monday night's show as Karina Smirnoff performed just a day after being hospitalized for neck and jaw injuries that she sustained while rehearsing a lift with partner Jacoby Jones. And she wasn't the only pro dancing through the pain!
We chatted backstage after the show with Karina and fellow injured pro Mark, who reveals to us that he "rebroke his toe," to find out how they're feeling. Plus, Karina reveals that Jacoby refused to try their risky lift again!
"It makes you a lot more nervous and your footing is not as solid," Karina says of the psychological impact of her injury. "You start to question what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong. When you're doing a lift like that, you can't hesitate, you just got to go for it."
It turns out that the pair didn't end up doing the lift that caused Karina's injury tonight. But, she reveals, "I wanted to do it...but the man in charge here said, 'Absolutely not.''' Jacoby concurs: "We weren't doing that move. No way possible."
Still, Karina tells us she's feeling "much better." And we're sure that perfect score the couple scored tonight definitely had a healing effect!
As for Karina's injury, fellow competitor Aly Raisman was there when she got hurt and recalls, "It was awful. At first, she thought her jaw was dislocated, so poor Karina, she was just sitting there." Mark adds, "It was gnarly."
And aside from rebreaking his toe (Ouch!), Mark reveals to us he's dealing with another injury as well. "I'm dealing with the most horrendous back injury right now. It's horrendous," he spills. "It happened to me a few weeks ago and they gave me some stuff to get through it. It got better for a week."
Adds Aly, "He was dying this morning."
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