Angelina Jolie Wrote An Op-Ed Piece Revealing She Had Both Breasts Removed To Prevent Cancer

Wow. Just wow.

Angelina Jolie just released an op-ed piece for the New York Times explaining that she had a preventative double mastectomy because she had a hereditary gene which made her predisposed to cancer. This, of course, comes as a shock and her piece is nothing short of gripping.

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.

Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average.

Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive 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.

On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work.

Quite frankly, this is all hard to process. In the world of cameras following Jolie and Pitt at every turn, it’s pretty amazing she was able to keep this all a secret. Beyond that, I can’t imagine the agony she went through making this decision. The great news is that she went from an 87 percent chance of having cancer to lower than five percent.

Let me say it now: there are going to be two types of idiots emerging today.

1) The people who make “the best of Angelina Jolie’s Bewbs” slideshows.

2) Is Angelina Jolie taking attention away from Jennifer Anniston’s wedding?

These people shall be summarily banned from the Internet.

Anyway, read Jolie’s whole article here. And keep a Kleenex near.

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