Angelina Jolie Is "Happy" With Double Mastectomy, Will Undergo Another Surgery
Angelina Jolie is "happy" with her double mastectomy and preparing for her next surgery.
Following the Feb. 2013 procedure, Jolie has gotten tons of support from other women, and as she looks forward to her next surgery, she's confident that she will have tons of support from others.
In a new interview, Jolie is opening up about her procedure and how she's benefited from all the kind words she's received.
"I’m very happy I made the decision," Jolie revealed to Entertainment Weekly in a March 5 interview. "I was very fortunate to have great doctors and very, very fortunate to have a good recovery."
"I feel very, very close — much closer — to other women, and women who are going through the same thing," Jolie said of the support she's received. "Wherever I go, usually I run into women and we talk about health issues, women’s issues, breast cancer, ovarian cancer. I’ve talked to men about their daughters’ and wives’ health. It makes me feel closer to other people who deal with the same things and have either lost their parents or are considering surgeries or wondering about their children."
Prior to undergoing the preventative double mastectomy, Jolie learned that she had an 87% risk of developing breast cancer due to a defective BRCA1 gene, which was also found in her late mother and aunt -- both of whom were eventually diagnosed with breast cancer.
The gene also increases the risk of ovarian cancer (which her mother, actress Marcheline Bertrand, died from at the age of 56) by 50%, which Jolie plans to reduce by undergoing a preventive oophorectomy (the removal of an ovary or ovaries).
"There’s still another surgery to have, which I haven’t yet," Jolie told the magazine. "I’ll, you know, I’ll get advice from all these wonderful people who I’ve been talking to, to get through that next stage."