Superstar actor Tom Hanks choked up when acknowledging his wife, Rita Wilson, and their family in his acceptance speech for the Cecil B. Demille Award at the Golden Globes on Sunday night. “A man is blessed when he has a family like that,” he said, pointing to them in the audience and then singling out Wilson: “A wife who is fantastic in every way, who has taught me what love is. I can’t tell you how much your love means to me.”
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Read MoreIn fact, Hanks had good reason to feel grateful to be sharing the moment with his wife of 31 years. In April of 2015, Rita Wilson disclosed to People magazine that she had undergone a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Wilson’s underlying condition, lobular carcinoma, is a type of breast cancer that begins in the glands that produce milk, which are called lobules. If the cancer is invasive, it has broken out of the lobules, and has the potential to spread to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body.
Wilson Chose a Double Mastectomy
Even though Wilson is typically a private person, she has spoken candidly about her experience surviving breast cancer, and how much it meant to have her family including Hanks by her side.
When she was first diagnosed, Wilson she was starring in a Broadway play called "Fish in the Dark," with Larry David. She needed to take a month off from the play to undergo a bilateral mastectomy a surgery where both breasts are removed. Wilson never disclosed what stage of breast cancer she was diagnosed with, but she did say that it was invasive lobular carcinoma, and that the disease was detected early enough that she did not need to undergo chemotherapy or radiation. Wilson was declared cancer-free by May of 2015.
Even in Hollywood, Wilson posted earlier that night, things don’t always go according to plan. In a makeup-free post she seemed to take getting stood-up by the hair and makeup artist she’d “books in September” in stride. Like many cancer survivors, she seems to know what really matters and doesn’t sweat the small stuff.
When Should You Consider a Mastectomy?
Dr. Ann Partridge is an oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the founder and director of the Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer
Dr. Ann Partridge is an oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the founder and director of the Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer
Mastectomy is the removal of the entire breast during surgery. There are a number of factors to weigh when considering a mastectomy, chief among them is whether breast-conserving surgery (or lumpectomy) is possible. Your doctor will look at the size and features of your tumor as well as your family history in order to make a recommendation.
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