Angelina Jolie

This week it’s been pretty difficult to look at any media outlet and not see Angelina Jolie’s story.  I first saw the story Tuesday morning in NY Times and Huffington Post.  By Friday it had made it to the cover of the Time and People magazines in our mailbox.  I have yet to read either of the articles in those magazines, but it’s obvious that her decision has sparked a lot of conversation in the medical community, as well as the community at large.

Thankfully, I haven’t seen a lot of conversation that is judgmental of her decision either positively or negatively.  It seems that much of the information has been just that – information.  The few articles that I’ve read have also contained good information.  These articles have been focused on the facts of genetic testing and the statistics that accompany the BRCA1 gene mutation.  Angelina Jolie wrote a NY Times op-ed about the reasoning behind her decision.  There have been some articles written containing descriptions of the process of her mastectomy and reconstruction.  The information in these articles has been completely in line with everything that I have learned and what Cathy has had to consider in her decision making process.

I’m thankful that judgment has not been leveled on this actress, at least in regard to the words that my eyes have seen.  Prophylactic surgery is an extremely personal decision that is based on a wide variety of variables.  Even the decision to have genetic testing done is a personal decision that meets a different ethical and moral array with every person who considers it.  Many of those ethical and moral considerations were discussed at length this fall as the unraveling of the genetic code broke in the news.

At some point the opinions about Angelina Jolie’s mastectomy will start to fly.  My guess is that those opinions will be common shortly after she makes a public appearance and people have the opportunity to “see the results”.  That’s unfortunate, but it’s also how our society and the media work.  In the meantime, I’m glad that there is awareness and conversation.  While BRCA genetic mutations pertain to a relatively small percentage of the population, awareness of their existence will save lives.