MOTHERHOOD PART TWO: Shout Out to Angelina Jolie and Her New Breasts and All the Other Kick-Arse Moms Out There Making Brave Decisions

It’s bad enough that when our breasts come-in sometime in our tweens and teens, we gals just really don’t know what the heck to do with them. Especially when the older boys seem to know exactly what they want to do with them… Yeep!

But then, after we finally discover our breasts’ usefulness as something other than a playground for our boyfriends and husbands, like the all important mommy-milk-machines or strapless-dress-holder-uppers that they are, some ladies get the heartbreaking news that they’re carriers of the BRCA1 gene and have a 87% chance of breast cancer, and oh, yeah, a 50% chance of uterus cancer to boot.

Mac and Cheese and Rice!!!

Angelina’s brave but brutal decision to remove both her breasts to reduce her breast cancer risk from 87% to 5% is just as a mother might do: be almost SuperHuman in leaping-buildings-with-a-single-bound or going-through-massive-surgeries-with-a-single-mindset: LIFE! All so she can be there for the diapering, shoelace tying, graduation attending, and wedding planning as a long-term, in-it-for-the-long-haul Mommy to her children.

Some dear friends of mine, too, have gone through this brave, surgical hell and back because of being on the wrong side of this percentage…. as most had seen it played out in their own moms, aunts, and grandmas in a heartbreaking way. Which is why it’s so great that I’m even blogging about this as a hot topic right now.

Love Angelina Jolie or hate Angelina Jolie (and it really seems to be one or the other these days???) sharing her news with the NYT’s reading world opens the discussion about women taking care of themselves and having the choice NOT to die young. Interestingly and fantastically, it also opens the discussion about affordability for all and insurance injustice.

Bravo Angelina Jolie. Who cares if you spent some time with some dude’s blood hanging around your neck. Weren’t we all a little weird in our 20s? And so what if some still think you’re odd because you do so much good for the world (???) From one mom to the next, we’re grateful for your honesty and your courage. We love that you did this for both yourself and your husband and also for your kids. 

And to talk about it in a positive, healthy, strong, supportive way is what it’s all about.

Namaste & Three Cheers! -OM