Angelina Jolie: Brave or Extreme?

A Boston Globe columnist and Hopkinton resident suggests that Jolie's surgery might not be all it's cracked up to be.

If you've been in front of a TV, a computer or a newspaper in the past week you've surely heard about Angelina Jolie's decision to undergo a double mastectomy, but not everyone thinks she deserves the praise she is getting. Jennifer Graham, a Boston Globe columnist and Hopkinton resident said she thinks the praise for her is overkill. "Let’s put the brakes on the canonization, and on the dubious extrapolation that what one highly visible woman has done is a best practice," Graham writes. "Jolie, a person of extraordinary privilege, has exercised an option that’s not available to most women — and that many women wouldn’t choose even if they could." Graham continues in her column to say that because Jolie has a husband, Brad Pitt, and …

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Icdavis

2:57 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013

You are both missing the point. Jolie has a mutation which skews her chances for breast and ovarian cancer into unacceptable ranges. No one is advocating women lop off their breasts willy nilly. In fact, even in the BRCA positive community, no one is making this decision willy nilly. There are entire websites and forums and support groups, both real-life and virtual, about dealing with the …   more ›

UMass Breast Center Receives Accreditation

Accreditation by the NAPBC was given to UMass, one of the top hospitals in the country.

Submitted by UMass Memorial Medical Center The Comprehensive Breast Center at UMass Memorial Medical Center has been granted a three-year/Full accreditation designation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), a program administered by the American College of Surgeons.   Accreditation by the NAPBC is only given to those centers that have voluntarily committed to provide the highest level of quality breast care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance.  During the survey process, the center must demonstrate compliance with standards established by the NAPBC for treating women who are diagnosed with the full spectrum of breast disease.  The standards include proficiency in the …

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Health Happenings

Navigating the Ins and Outs of Breast Health

Most of us have a friend or relative who has struggled with breast cancer and experience high anxiety when a breast change is found. But, thankfully, 80 percent of breast concerns are not cancer.

I dedicate this to my 42-year-old friend who found a lump on Thanksgiving day and has just completed her eleventh of 16 chemotherapy treatments. Because one-in-eight women and one-in-1,000 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, it usually qualifies in the top three fears. But according to Dr. Renee Quarterman of TriCounty Medical Associates, director of the Milford Regional Medical Center Breast Center: “The most important thing to remember is 80 percent of all breast findings are normal and benign.”   But what if you do find something new? Don’t Panic! Examine the opposite breast at the same place for a symmetrical finding. If both match, you have normal tissue. Dr. Quarterman encourages waiting a month for normal …

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