Proactive Woman

Angelina Jolie has stood up to cancer in what a lot of people would consider a most dramatic way.

The Oscar winner recently underwent a double mastectomy after genetic tests revealed that she was at a high risk of developing breast cancer.

“I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much as I could,” Jolie said in a New York Times column published today. “[With the loving support of my partner, Brad Pitt,] 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.

“I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”

Jolie, 37, was, no doubt, moved to make this decision after seeing her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, battle ovarian cancer for almost a decade before dying at age 56 in 2007.

So good for her, and for speaking up. Given her platform in life, I am certain that Jolie’s candor will help save some lives.

Photo: Zimbio.com.

Update: Brad Pitt, in case you were wondering, thought his partner’s decision to go ahead with this procedure was “absolutely heroic.”

And according to one of those ubiquitous insiders, their kids have been “wonderfully supportive” thought it all.