My Thoughts: Angelina Jolie's Preventive Double Mastectomy

Angelina Jolie recently revealed that she underwent double mastectomy last April as a preventive measure following the discovery that she is carrying a cancer gene. The chances for her to develop cancer dropped to 5% from 87%. Her mother died of ovarian cancer and seeing her mother throughout the battle and her six young children were the motivations for her to do the procedure. She also considers the removal of her ovaries.

I think it was heroic of her. It was a courageous feat to sacrifice the removal of a part of her femininity and choose to live longer for her to see her children grow up. I remember the famous Miss Universe 2013 question "What is the essence of being a woman?" that was confidently answered by Sushmita Sen of India. After 10 years, it was only now that it was answered most profoundly.

Her revelation made us think that we do have options for our health and our happiness. Sometimes, we have to give up a part of ourselves to someone or something that matters the most--ensuring that we are there for our kids so that they may be able to grow up as loving and caring citizens as possible.