Angelina Jolie and Me.

Want to know what we have in common?

MY MOTHER fought cancer for almost a decade and died at age 53. But that’s not all.

Both Angelina Jolie and I have written about genetic testing for breast cancer, the BRCA genes, and the decision to undergo prophylactic mastectomies. Angelina Jolie, in her article My Medical Choice, wrote about her personal experience, while I wrote from the personal experience of watching my beautiful mother succumb to breast cancer and information I obtained by interviewing close friends.

In my book, Secrets of a Shy Socialite, Jena, a young mother, just like Angelina Jolie, made the difficult decision to undergo bilateral prophylactic (aka preventative) mastectomies to significantly decrease her chances of developing breast cancer. So she could live to raise her children.

This is important stuff, because today women have choices and options that our moms and grandmoms didn’t. We can get testing to determine our risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer and we can be proactive in our health care decisions BEFORE the mutant, damaging cells invade our bodies and takes over the direction of our lives.

I write for a very small line of Harlequin, and so far a few thousand people have read and maybe gained inspiration from Secrets of a Shy Socialite.

I am thrilled that Angelina Jolie has gone public with her very private health care choice, because she has the reach to touch millions. To educate and empower women around the world. To inspire us with her courage. To motivate us to take action. So even though she’ll never see this, thank you Angelina Jolie. You are a true inspiration!

To read Angelina Jolie’s NY Times article click HERE.

To read Secrets of a Shy Socialite, check out my Books page for an excerpt and links for purchase.  

Thank you!

Please share your experiences with breast cancer.