The doctor who treated Angelina Jolie throughout the process of her preventative double mastectomy has shared details of the actress’s three-month journey to remove her breasts and eradicate the risk of breast cancer.
Dr Kristi Funk, a surgical breast specialist and founder of the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills where Jolie underwent her treatment, has told of Angelina’s experience in a blog post she hopes will prompt women who feel they are at risk of breast cancer to seek advice.
Angelina Jolie: Why I had a double mastectomy
From detection of the BRCA1 gene — which Jolie was found to have giving her an 87 per cent chance of developing breast cancer — to the final stages of reconstruction, Dr Funk gives an incredible insight into the painful but positive journey Jolie has undertaken, also sharing that her husband Brad Pitt was by her side throughout.
Dr Funk describes the main stages of Jolie’s treatment, but says it’s not for everyone.
“Each woman’s case is different,” she says.
“Surgery will not necessarily be the right choice for everyone, and there are alternatives available. As Angelina says in her article, the important thing is to be aware of your options.”
Dr Funk said Angelina’s mastectomies went well and she recovered with “bountiful energy”, keen to get back to work.
She also describes the care Jolie received while recovering from different stages of the mastectomy and reconstruction, and the support she had from her husband, Brad Pitt.
“On February 2, 2013, Angelina was in the operating room for the first operation, the nipple delay,” she writes.
“Her partner was on hand to greet her as soon as she came around from the anesthetic, as he was during each of the operations.”
Brad Pitt has praised his fiance Angelina Jolie as “heroic” for her decision, and commended Dr Funk and the rest of the medical team that cared for her.
“Having witnessed this decision firsthand, I find Angie’s choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic,” the actor told UK paper the Evening Standard.
“I thank our medical team for their care and focus.
“All I want for is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family.”
As Angelina said in her piece in The New York Times where the revealed she had her breasts removed, she hopes her experience will help educate other women.
Related: Why I had a preventative double mastectomy at 25
“Many women unfortunately do not know that BRCA gene mutations exist and could affect them. Breast and ovarian cancers take lives every day — knowledge and action can help prevent the premature loss of those who love us, and whom we deeply love in return,” Dr Funk wrote.
“Like Angelina, I urge women who feel they might have reason to be at risk for a BRCA gene mutation — perhaps because of a strong family history of cancer — to seek medical advice and to take control of their futures.
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