Angelina Jolie announcement good for breast cancer awareness?

Off-topic
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Angelina’s announcement hits home pretty hard in our household, I have a good idea what she was thinking when she decided to get a preventative bi lateral masectomy: “get it out before it kills me!”

I think her announcement will bring on a very interseting debate about breasts, the social stigma associated with breasts, and hopefully it’ll increase awareness and reduce the negativity associated with breast cancer surgery.

What is it about breasts? Is the sexualization of breasts leading to an increase in the reluctance of women to get exams, is it the fear of being labeled, or finding out your have “it” that leads to women ignoring the risks.

Eighty percent of breast cancers are In Situ Carcinoma, a non invasive cancer that develop in the lactation ducts of the breasts. This cancer is unique to women because they lactate. It is typically found in one breast, appears on a mammogram as a “opaque” or thickened area. It is non invasive, but it will metastasize if not identified and treated promptly.

Unfortunately, because In Situ Carcinoma develops in the lactation ducts, it tends to be disperse, so it is not a cancer that can be treated easilly with radiation, chemotherapy, or a lumpectomy. Typical treatment is a masectomy.

Mammograms and breast exams are the first line defense for finding breast cancer. A positive family history for breast cancer should lead to a discussion of risks for developing breast cancer, possible genetic testing, and in some cases a preventative surgery as Angelina recently completed.

Save the Ta Tas should read save the Ma Mas.

Get yourself checked, encourage your friends and family to get checked.

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She had her ovaries removed too.

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Well, it’snot that Angelina said that all women shoudl do the same and there are some additional facts to know (the wife of a co-worker is working in a laboratory here in austria that made a study about breast cancer and genetic predisposition)

You can trace down this specific form of cancer to one family (well, several hundred years ago; in norway you can find this form of cancer because during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) some austrian protestant soldier migrated to norway for example).

If you have this predisposition it is very very likely that you develop this form of cancer so preventative actions are very very likely to save your life.

And then there are other important questions:
Who’s paying the DNA-test (to see if you are at risk) and who is paying the preventative operations.
And evenetually who is paying the cosmetic surgery afterwards.

Here in austria i think the test and operation are payed by our health care system.

Angelina had to and for sure can pay all that for herself, but many others can’t, well though luck if you’re not born rich or got rich somehow.

Okay, enough of that, even austrian health care that payed for operations and treatment didn’t safe my mothers life (masectomy at age 38, death because of metastases everywhere at age 48).

If you have the chance to take tests, take preventative measures then do it.
And if something comes up, tell the people around you, don’t be ashamed of anything (you don’t have to) don’t think you have to protect others from the truth (you don’t have to).

Sorry for this outburst, i’m really crying while typing this, thank you, it feels better to release some pressure (looks like there’s plety of it still there after even after 17 years).

Greetings

Byc

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Nurse Ben’s got a lot to worry about…

…being that he’s a giant tit, his risk for cancer must be huge!

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I was surprised at her odds

I was not aware that the gene science was that advanced.

I mean, most woman would come up with a different plan. Like having Brad Pitt play with them more, see if he finds anything funny. 87% of woman want a breast exam by Brad Pitt, he looks like he is good at it. But anyway, Jolie said her odds of getting cancer was 87%. Shocking.

I met this guy Pat a while back, who wanted to rent a room from me. He, rather honestly, told me he has lung cancer. I told him I would think about it, but in truth I didn’t want to do it.

Lung cancer sounds like it could be depressing. Many people don’t realize that depression is both contagious and the least funny and most dangerous disease you can get. I would rather rent to a leper than live with a depressed person. They can be so depressing it’s not funny.

But I soon realized that Pat was a funny guy, and I rented him the room. I know it’s most likely that one day he won’t answer the door when I knock, and that won’t be funny. I am at peace with that (all of my friends with lung cancer have died). I want him to spend what time he has left with me. He picks me up somehow, he is full of life, and doesn’t whine about anything. Maybe he realizes he doesn’t have time enough left to be unhappy anymore. He fishes a lot now, rain or shine ,and is always happy with what he gets.

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I’m looking over at my wife, she’s resting on the couch, it’s been a tough couple days, the surgery is horrendous, they literally strip away all of the underlying structure of the breast, creating a giant skin flap, then lay it back down so it can reattach to the muscle; the insert is placed under the muscle.

Standard for breast cancer surgery is a sentinel lymph node biopsy, a few nodes are taken during surgery and checked for metastisy, so far it looks clear, another week or so for a final reault. Removing lymph nodes is a risk, it can lead to lymphodema, but if the nodes are not checked then any cancer cells that spread would not be caught. So far her lymph system seems to be accomodating the missing nodes, not to much peripheral swelling in her hand/fingers.

She describes the pain as being more like a burning than an ache, her back hurts from referred pain, the chest is mostly “deadened” from surgery due to having all the nerves cut. She doesn’t have as much swelling as I would have thought she’d have, but she’s still hurting a lot!

She’s been sleeping in a recliner, can’t tolerate laying flat, but she has been walking around, reading, and she went for a short car ride tonight. Tomorrow we’re going to shop for “bandeau bras”, essentially fancy tube tops, something supportive.

48 hours post surgery…

Genetic testing is advanced enough to determine if you carry the gene(s) that significantly increase your risks for developing cancer, but famiy history is the first step to determining your risk. My wife is technically “too old” to be a braka gene positive, they said she would have had a family history of cancer and she would have had cancer at a younger age; she’s over fifty.

If I was braka positive like Angelina, I’d have my breasts and ovaries removed without a second thought, I think this is why she’s going public, to spread the word so folks who have a significant family history of cancer will take it serious and recognize that there’s a choice and that there’s preventative treatment.

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Wow, sorry, I didn’t know this was that personal

Well, she probably wishes you looked more like Brad Pitt, but you are doing what you can. Hell, I bet there were times you wished she looked more like Jolie, but it is what it is. Sounds to me like she has some real love by her side and you are a great guy. Wish you guys the best. Sometimes love shines brightest in the dark.

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It’s a wild ride, comes on fast, less than eight weeks from the first questionable mamogram, to an even more questionable MRI, and finally the biopsy. By the time the biopsy comes along, ya sorta know something is up.

So far things are okay, she’s still having a hard time getting comfortable in a bed, lots of fatigue from healing and some degree of stress over the whole process. She doesn’t seem to care that she’s a one breasted woman, she says the implant looks like an amputees stump; which I suppose in a way it is.

My 17yo son was kinda “aloof” from the situation, which is not atypical for a male his age, so we made him “look” at the surgery site so he’d have some perspective. His initial comment was: “I know what it looks like because I saw it on South Park”. Yes, I joke you not, he said that and meant it, though he really didn’t know what he was saying.

My wife had on a thin lycra support top, he could clearly see the line of steri strips closing the incisions, all told she probably has ~18" worth of incisions. Let’s just say that his eyes go really big and he was way less aloof afterwards.

I think it’s important that people actually see and understand what people go through, and to acknowledge the risks, and even though it’s “gross”, if it avoids one death or “serious complication”, well then it was worth it.

They are just boobs, they are no more a sex object than my knee cap or the end of my nose. Don’t let sexualization of our bodies by culture and media prevent us from sharing and caring.

Get those yearly mammograms!

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Your son saw this episode.

I’m glad to hear your wife is getting everything she needs, surrounded by a loving family.

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Ben.

Just posting to wish your wife a speedy recovery. Please give her a hug from the unicycle community.

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a related question (for men) that springs to my mind: what shall we do with high prostate cancer risk ? (I am serious)

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Get checked at age fifty, sooner if you have a family hx.

Same goes for colon cancer, skin cancer, etc…

Thanks, I will, she’s still a little tender though, so it may be more of a shoulder pet :wink:

She’s in suprisingly good spirits, it was a relief to get the sugery done and have the cancer gone. She’s not a vane person, and tends to see life as a wonderful suprise, a real half full kind of person, so she takes this whole experience in stride.

Today she gets her drain out and gets a heads up on what to expect down the road cosmetically, the appt with the “cancer surgeon” is next week, fingers crossed!

What she wants most: To sleep on her side!

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Ben, thanks for this wonderful post. Best wishes to both of you.

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She’s doing amazingly well! She’s still quite sore, but now able to sleep on her side hugged up to a giant feather pillow.

Still only getting shoulder hugs/rubs, her chest remains very tender.

Getting the drain out was a huge deal, she had some intial swelling and pain as the fluid had to find a place to go; residual fluid was still accumulating at a rate of 15-20mm every twelve, but now he’s fine.

She has begun to do some light chores and tries to stretch out daily, most of her time is spent studying for her boards; she just graduated NP school two weeks ago and went ahead and scheduled her boards for two weeks after surgery :astonished:

We leave Friday for a three week road trip, and I think it might just work out okay :slight_smile:

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Angelina’s aunt just died from cancer.