I’ve always admired Angelina Jolie‘s strength, but we’ve gained a new respect for the Academy Award winning actress after she revealed she underwent a preventative procedure to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. Two years ago, Jolie underwent a preventive double mastectomy after a blood test revealed she carried a mutation in the BRCA1 gene that increased her risk of breast cancer to 87% and ovarian cancer to 50%.
Doctors found a small benign tumor on one ovary but no signs of cancer in her tissues.
In an op-ed for The New York Times, Angelina wrote,
I had been planning this for some time. It is a less complex surgery than the mastectomy, but its effects are more severe. It puts a woman into forced menopause. So I was readying myself physically and emotionally, discussing options with doctors, researching alternative medicine, and mapping my hormones for estrogen or progesterone replacement. But I felt I still had months to make the date.
Then two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor with blood-test results. “Your CA-125 is normal,” he said. I breathed a sigh of relief. That test measures the amount of the protein CA-125 in the blood, and is used to monitor ovarian cancer. I have it every year because of my family history.
She added,
It is not possible to remove all risk, and the fact is I remain prone to cancer. I will look for natural ways to strengthen my immune system. I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family. I know my children will never have to say, “Mom died of ovarian cancer.”
Powerful.
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