Angelina Jolie to have follow-up surgery following double mastectomy

Angelina Jolie announced that she will have follow-up surgery following her double mastectomy carried out last year.

The 38-year-old actress, whose mother died from breast cancer at age 56, came forward last May with her decision to have the cancer-preventative surgery when genetic tests showed she was at high risk for developing breast cancer.

Now the "Maleficent" actress is going under yet another procedure.

"There's still another surgery to have, which I haven't yet," she told Entertainment Weekly in an interview. "I'll, you know, I'll get advice from all these wonderful people who I've been talking to, to get through that next stage."

The Hollywood star's doctors estimated that she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer after she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene.

Now, Jolie says she is "very happy" with her decision and that her partner Brad Pitt is supportive, praising her decision as "absolutely heroic."

She also thanks her busy schedule for helping her get back on her feet so quickly.

"I was very fortunate to have great doctors and very, very fortunate to have a good recovery and have a project like Unbroken [the World War II survival story she is directing] to have something to be really focused on, to be getting healthy for, and to be able to just get right back to work," she said.

Instead of keeping her surgery under wraps, the mother of six went public in a "New York Times" op-ed titled "My Medical Choice," in which she detailed her decision and urged other women to consider cancer-preventative surgery. Her openness about something so personal has helped her to feel connected to other women, she told Entertainment Weekly.

"I feel very, very close - much closer - to other women, and women who are going through the same thing," Jolie said. "Wherever I go, usually I run into women and we talk about health issues, women's issues, breast cancer, ovarian cancer."

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