Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie was forced into menopause after she underwent preventative surgery last week where doctors removed her ovaries and fallopian tubes in a move to prevent her from having an ovarian cancer.
This means that the actress will no longer be able to have children and it came to her at a relatively young age of 39 years old.
The actress said that she has already predicted two years ago that she might come to this particular stage of her life. In fact, she wrote then in the Op-Ed section of the New York Times that she will be choosing to undergo a preventive double mastectomy sometime down the road.
She also said then that she will keep her readers updated on her status, which she thinks may be useful to others, including her next preventive surgery that already includes the removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Runs in the family
Angelina Jolie decided to finally have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed last week as her doctors detected early signs of ovarian cancer.
She recalled that she has been planning the procedure several months ago but she was forced to finally agree to it when one of her doctors called her two weeks ago citing that her recent blood tests indicated that she may be in the early stages of cancer.
Cancer runs in the family of Angelina Jolie, particularly the females. Her mother, grandmother and aunt all died of cancer, notes MSN News.
The actress said that when doctors came back to her with the results of her blood tests, they advised her to have a preventive surgery about a decade before the earliest onset of cancer among her female relatives. She recalled that her mother’s ovarian cancer was diagnosed when she was already 49.
Very supportive
Because of her recent surgery, Angelina Jolie will no longer have the capability to have children. She also expects to undergo some physical changes in her body but she said that she is not scared of whatever the outcome of her decision is.
Angelina said that she is a very strong person and she says that what happened to her is part of life and there is no reason for her to fear at all.
The actress also draws strength from her very supportive husband Brad Pitt who actually flew back from France just to be with his wife when Angelina received the news that she had to undergo the surgery.
The Oscar-winning actress said that she is quite fortunate that it came to her at a rather late stage when she already has children of her own. She said that she feels for other women to whom the cancer came at an early stage of their lives and they can no longer bear children.
Their situation is definitely far harder than hers so she really feels bad for them. But she said that based on her earlier queries, women can have their fallopian tubes removed but keep their ovaries so they can still get the chance to bear children. Angelina said that they should be aware of that option.