On The Subject of Anjelina Jolie’s Recent Mastectomy
More than thirty years have passed since I was told I needed a total hysterectomy:tubes. ovaries uterus and all. Uncanny timing since the doctor who said i must have it also caused the Pelvic inflammatory Disease I had suffered by inserting a coil, (a popular birth control device of that time). I had lethargy, felt very tired and came to see him. He ran a blood test and said he found nothing. he offered a prescription for a tranquillizer, which i declined. Two days later i had a high fever and called his office. He was away and the doctor on call thought I had an atopic pregnancy and told me to get to the hospital. they did an operation through my belly button. I was not pregnant but had a bad infection from the coil.
My doctor visited me in the hospital after the operation and told me: I had such terrible infection from the coil that the blood tests must have been screwed up and now i needed a total hysterectomy,saying: I’d always have pain during intercourse and never be able to have children and they would have done the hysterectomy when i was under anesthesia but my fever was too high. In any event this was bad news for me i always wanted to have children.
My ex-husband could not have any and we tried for six years , I had all the tests, some extremely painful and then finally it was suggested he have a sperm test. There was the answer. not enough volume and slow moving sperm cannot do the job. We tried adoption and we were turned down because technically we were not all together sterile.
In short, this news from my OBGYN was sad and I cried a lot. My then boyfriend comforted me saying: “I’ll make you pregnant. You’ll see , they don’t know what they’re talking about!” I thought he was out of his mind, what did he know? They were the doctors. Well it turned out he was right and my mother bless her soul was right. Later on I had to see my doctor for a follow up exam. His receptionist brought me a clip board with a formal release for me to sign, she said i had to sign it or he could not see me. So much for the honor in the Medical profession. I went to four more specialists after that. Two in NYC. One in California,a colleague of my OBGYN said yes to the hysterectomy,, he later admitted me to the maternity ward, and the other three did not agree. I elected to follow the advice of my new OBGYN in New York: Ampicillin taken every month during my periods. In eight months time, I was pregnant! Had a normal pregnancy ,delivery and healthy baby.
Now this Angelina Jolie matter. They have a new blood test for “the cancer gene”. If you test as more than a certain % over whatever they decide is the norm, they they suggest to take your breasts and ovaries out to prevent these kinds of cancers. Now what if your got the cancer you’ d have the mastectomy then or if this test is a total hoax and you never get any cancer? Or maybe you’d get liver cancer or cancer of some other type. How can they predict everything? My doctor in New york told me the doctors in California are knife happy collecting specimens for research. This may be continuing, girls look out. How many men have had this preventative type of surgery? I really think it is a shame to cut yourself up now to prevent cutting yourself up later. My mother was a breast cancer survivor.She had a lumpectomy, radiation , etc.Yes there was major side effects from the radiation. She was 80 when it was diagnosed. Never had any other types of cancer. She lived to be 98.
Who knows if this new test method is accurate? how can they possibly test their theory without emasculating many women? Know yourself know your body.
It’s the only one you’ve got. Don’t jump to chop yourself to pieces. What’s the sense in that. I hope that Angelina and women like her who have made that choice will recover and lead happy lives but it will not be easy for them. No amount of fame ,fortune or luck can take the place of a healthy body. When you amputate the body goes into shock and their are adjustmentst to make. My heart goes out to these women. I pray that they are not senseless victims.