Only a few weeks back, Brad Pitt's wife, Angelina Jolie, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times revealing she'd had a preventive hysterectomy to avoid contracting cancer, after two years back she'd undergone double mastectomy surgery for the same reason - the same procedure that Rita Wilson's breast cancer diagnosis needed.
Though Jolie and Wilson didn't go through the same ordeal (as the "Tomb Raider" star's surgery was preventive), the fact is that in their own way both actresses have used their personal experiences with the deadly disease to create conscience about early diagnosis, most recently through Rita Wilson's breast cancer revelation.
Taylor Swift also recently stated publicly that her mother had been diagnosed with cancer, though its nature is still unspecified.
The "Sleepless in Seattle" actress made the Rita Wilson breast cancer revelation in an exclusive statement to People Magazine earlier this week, saying she had stepped out of "Fish in the Dark," the Broadway play she had been working on when she received her diagnosis.
"Last week, with my husband by my side, and with the love and support of family and friends, I underwent a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction for breast cancer after a diagnosis of invasive lobular carcinoma," said Rita Wilson's breast cancer statement, according to The Guardian. "I am recovering and most importantly, expected to make a full recovery. Why? Because I caught this early, have excellent doctors and because I got a second opinion."
The actress also went on to explain that she has an underlying condition called lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) that she's had monitored yearly through mammograms and breast MRIs until recently her doctors, through two breast biopsies, discovered pleomorphic carcinoma in situ (PLCIS), though no cancer - until she got a second opinion that told her she had the disease, which prompted her to go through surgery.
It was early diagnosis that stopped Rita Wilson's cancer to grow until it could no longer be cured.
Ever since the Rita Wilson breast cancer statement, other celebrities have gone on to applaud her actress for speaking out about her diagnosis: according to The Daily Mail, stars as varied as Katie Couric, John Stamos, Christina Applegate (who underwent the same procedure in 2008), Rosie O'Donnell and even Marie Osmond have taken to Twitter to congratulate Wilson on her brave decision.
