Jolie had double mastectomy

“Angelina Jolie has revealed she has had a preventive double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer.

Health campaigners praised her decision to go public with the news, which she said was prompted by a desire to encourage other women to get gene-tested and to raise awareness of the options available to those at risk.

The actor has a defective gene, BRCA1, which doctors told her had increased her risk of developing breast cancer to 87%, and her risk of ovarian cancer, the disease that killed her mother at the age of 56, to 50%, she wrote in the New York Times.

The surgery, which began in February, had reduced Jolie's risk of breast cancer to less than 5%, she said.

"I can tell my children that they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer," she wrote. "It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that's it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can. On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity."

The 37-year-old, who has six children – three adopted and three with Brad Pitt, who was by her side for "every minute of the surgeries" – finished three months of medical procedures on 27 April. She said she first had "nipple delay" to maximise the chances of saving her nipples, before breast tissue removal and, nine weeks later, reconstruction.

Jolie wrote: "I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer."

Wendy Watson, who founded the UK's National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline, welcomed Jolie's decision to write publicly about her operation.

"It is excellent, because it is the highest profile you can get for it," she said. "It raises the profile for other women to look to if they have a family history and would benefit from being screened more frequently, or having surgery or having a genetic test," she said. "She probably feels that undergoing the operation is common sense but it probably does take a certain amount of courage to face it."

The UK foreign secretary, William Hague, who visited refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Jolie in March, said she would be "an inspiration to many".

"She is a courageous lady and a very professional lady. She's done a lot of work with me in recent months," he told Sky News. Jolie has worked with refugees for years and last year was appointed as a special envoy for the UN high commissioner for refugees.

Hague said: "She gave no sign that she was undergoing such treatment and I think she's a very brave lady, not only to carry on with her work so well during such treatment, but also to write about it now and talk about it."

Dr Richard Francis, head of research at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said that faults in the BRCA1 gene, which on average put women at a 65% risk of developing breast cancer, were rare and in most cases were linked to family history.

He cautioned that a mastectomy would not necessarily be the appropriate treatment for everyone with the gene. "For women like Angelina it's important that they are made fully aware of all the options that are available, including risk-reducing surgery and extra breast screening.

"Though Angelina decided that a preventative mastectomy was the right choice for her, this may not be the case for another woman in a similar situation.

"We urge anyone who is worried about their risk of breast cancer to talk it through with their doctor."

Last November, the television personality Sharon Osbourne disclosed that she had had her breasts removed after a genetic test revealed that she had inherited one of the genes that predispose carriers to breast cancer. "As soon as I found out I had the breast cancer gene, I thought: 'The odds are not in my favour,'" she told Hello! "I've had cancer before and I didn't want to live under that cloud. I decided to just take everything off, and had a double mastectomy. I didn't even think of my breasts in a nostalgic way, I just wanted to be able to live my life without that fear all the time," said Osbourne, adding that the decision was "a no-brainer" because the surgery hugely reduced her risk of developing breast cancer.

Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, spoke last week about how his wife, Marie-France, who lost a sister to breast cancer aged 39, had had a risk-reducing double mastectomy. "What the NHS did for my wife was incredible. Her family were living in Belgium and the care there is not as good as what is provided here. Of the three sisters, Claire died, and Louise, the eldest, had breast cancer but has seen it off," the former health secretary told Fabian Review in an interview.

Burnham recalled how he had been lobbied, while still a junior health minister, to speed up the implementation of genetic testing. "I did a lot of work, never knowing that one day we would have to use those tests, and it does bring it home to you how [progress] can save lives," he added.”

-By theguardian

1953: Hillary and Tenzing conquer  world tallest Mt. Everest(Sagarmatha)

"The New Zealander Edmund Hillary, and the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, have become the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest on the Nepal-Tibet border.They reached the top of the world at 1130 local time after a gruelling climb up the southern face.

A symmetrical, beautiful snow cone summit Edmund Hillary

The two men hugged each other with relief and joy but only stayed on the summit for 15 minutes because they were low on oxygen.

Mr Hillary took several photographs of the scenery and of Sherpa Tenzing waving flags representing Britain, Nepal, the United Nations and India.

Sherpa Tenzing buried some sweets and biscuits in the snow as a Buddhist offering to the gods.

They looked for signs of George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine who had disappeared in 1924 in a similar attempt to conquer Everest, but found nothing.

Then they began the slow and tortuous descent to rejoin their team leader Colonel John Hunt further down the mountain at Camp VI.

When he saw the two men looking so exhausted Col Hunt assumed they had failed to reach the summit and started planning another attempt.

But then the two climbers pointed to the mountain and signalled they had reached the top, and there were celebrations all round.

Careful planning

Col Hunt attributed the successful climb to advice from other mountaineers who had attempted the feat over the years, careful planning, excellent open-circuit oxygen equipment and good weather.

Mr Hillary described the peak, which is 29,028 feet (8,847 m) above sea level, as "a symmetrical, beautiful snow cone summit".

He was one of the members of the expedition led by Eric Shipton in 1951 that discovered the southern route to the top of the mountain.

A year later, Tenzing reached the record height of 28,215 feet (8,599 m) during a Swiss expedition led by Raymond Lambert.

Mount Everest was named after Sir George Everest, the surveyor-general of India who was the first to produce detailed maps of the Indian subcontintent including the Himalayas."

(Adapted from http://news.bbc.co.uk)

If you really wnt to see original article then please go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/29/newsid_2492000/2492683.stm

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inspiring-Your-Life/282787448434620?id=282787448434620&sk=app_106171216118819

The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God 

Melody - Milton Hayes & Cuthbert Clarke, 1911

There's a one-eyed yellow idol To the north of Kathmandu; There's a little marble cross below the town; And a brokenhearted woman Tends the grave of 'Mad' Carew, While the yellow god for ever gazes down. He was known as 'Mad Carew By the subs at Kathmandu, He was hotter than they felt inclined to tell, But, for all his foolish pranks, He was worshipped in the ranks, And the Colonel's daughter smiled on him as well. He had loved her all along With the passion of the strong, And that she returned his love was plain to all. She was nearly twenty-one, And arrangements were begun To celebrate her birthday with a ball. He wrote to ask what present She would like from 'Mad' Carew; They met next day as he dismissed a squad: And jestingly she made pretence That nothing else would do ... But the green eye of the little yellow god. On the night before the dance 'Mad' Carew seemed in a trance, And they chaffed him As they pulled at their cigars, But for once he failed to smile, And he sat alone awhile, Then went out into the night.. beneath the stars.

He returned, before the dawn, With his shirt and tunic torn, And a gash across his temples... dripping red. He was patched up right away, And he slept all through the day While the Colonel's daughter Watched beside his bed. He woke at last and asked her If she'd send his tunic through. She brought it and he thanked her with a nod. He bade her search the pocket, Saying, 'That's from "Mad" Carew,' And she found ... the little green eye of the god. She upbraided poor Carew, In the way that women do, Although her eyes were strangely hot and wet, But she would not take the stone, And Carew was left alone With the jewel that he'd chanced his life to get. When the ball was at its height On that still and tropic night, She thought of him ... and hastened to his room. As she crossed the barrack square She could hear the dreamy air Of a waltz tune softly stealing thro' the gloom. His door was open wide, With silver moonlight shining through; The place was wet and slippery where she trod; An ugly knife lay buried In the heart of 'Mad' Carew ... 'Twas the vengeance of the little yellow god.

There's a one-eyed yellow idol To the north of Kathmandu; There's a little marble cross below the town; And a brokenhearted woman Tends the grave of 'Mad' Carew, While the yellow god for ever gazes down.

"JUST LIKE OUR WEDDING DAY"

“When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.


... Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office…. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind…I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed -dead. My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push through with the divorce.— At least, in the eyes of our son—- I’m a loving husband….

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves.

So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!
If you don’t share this, nothing will happen to you.

If you do, you just might save a marriage. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up...

(AUTHOR UNKNOWN.But the article has become massive hit on 'INTERNET')