Jane Fonda is 82-years-old and on the cover of Elle. She is a breast cancer survivor and a thriver. Whatever you think about Fonda, it’s a remarkable reminder about resilience.
Fonda announced to fans that she is the face of Elle’s Earth Day issue, which focuses on women fighting for climate justice. Dressed in a black and grey power suit, Fonda is channeling the strength and power of both a cancer survivor and environmental rights activist.
View this post on InstagramRead More The actress revealed in 2010 that she experienced a breast cancer scare after doctors discovered a small, non-invasive tumor. Fonda underwent a procedure at the time, and her representative declared her “cancer-free.” In 2016, Fonda had a mastectomy before the Golden Globe Awards.Related: When Should You Consider a Mastectomy?
Fonda’s cancer battle didn’t stop there. In 2018, while speaking to The Today Show, Fonda addressed bandages on her face by explaining she had a cancer taken away from her lip.
"Well, the world is falling apart, what's a lip?" Fonda asked. "Yeah, they did (biopsy it.) I'm going to be fine, thanks.”
Breast Cancer And Considering A Mastectomy
Fonda isn’t the only celebrity to go through a mastectomy, other familiar faces like Elle’s Editor-In-Chief Nina Garcia, Angelina Jolie, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and others have all opened up about their experiences with the procedure.
A mastectomy is a procedure which removes either one or both breasts. It’s usually done to treat breast cancer, but other women have the surgery to prevent a breast cancer diagnosis if there’s history of the disease in their family. However when considering a mastectomy, there are a few factors to weigh in the decision.
Related: Implant Reconstruction After a Mastectomy: The Options
“Depending on the size and other features, such as family history, a patient may opt for more aggressive surgery,” Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet.
In addition to risk factors, there are a few surgery options patients should keep in mind while approaching physicians for breast cancer treatment.
Dr. Ann Partridge explains when women should consider a mastectomy during breast cancer treatment
“When I talk to a woman who comes to me and she has breast cancer, I evaluate what the standard options for treatment for her are, which typically include cutting out the cancer — which is either a lumpectomy if you can get it all with just a little scooping around of the area that’s abnormal or a mastectomy for some women meaning taking the full breast because sometimes these lesions can be very extensive in the breast,” Dr. Ann Patridge, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, explains to SurvivorNet.
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