Just over a month ago Maria* had a mastectomy in her healthy, right breast after being told that the cancer detected in the left breast she had removed two years earlier could reappear.

“I had gone for a consultation about reconstructing my left breast, which I removed in 2011, and was told there was a high chance the cancer would reappear in my right one.

“So in March I had my right breast removed and reconstructed,” the 41-year-old said.

The issue of mastectomy made headlines last Tuesday after Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie revealed she had removed both breasts as a precautionary measure after finding she had a gene mutation that leads to a sharply higher risk of breast cancer – which had led to her mother’s death.

The 37-year-old actress, who is known for her beauty and femininity, said she had decided to go public about the matter to raise awareness.

While Maria was keen to share her “devastating” experience, to encourage other women to monitor their health, the operation was still too fresh and she was still not ready to see her name in print.

“It was not easy, but I decided to remove it to have peace of mind,” the mother-of-four said, adding she still needed to have her left breast reconstructed.

Geneticist consultant Christian Scerri said international criteria stated that one should get tested genetically if they had a close relative who had breast or ovarian cancer under the age of 40, or two close relatives who had breast or ovarian cancer, or a man in the family who had breast cancer.

Both Angelina Jolie’s and Maria’s mothers had breast cancer, and the Maltese woman worries that her 18-year-old daughter might face it too.

“My mother always harped on that I should check my breasts for lumps, and this saved my life.

“I will do the same with my daughter,” Maria said.

Betty Lee, 52, knows what this feels like. She has a strong family history of breast cancer – as her mother and grandmother both had it – and her daughter has the genetic predisposition.

“I will support my daughter if she decides to have a preventative double mastectomy,” Ms Lee said.

She was diagnosed with cancer in her right breast in 2005 and had her first mastectomy, which involved cutting off the entire breast.

This left her with a scar across her chest. In 2010, she opted to remove her other breast and, this time, she had a subcutaneous mastectomy that involved removing all breast tissue but keeping the skin and then inserting an implant.

“I did this to show my daughter what it would be like if she decides to do it,” she said.

Over the years, Ms Lee has spoken in the media about her experience and even shown her scar to raise awareness.

She has since had both breasts reconstructed and works as a breast cancer awareness adviser at St James Hospital in Sliema. She feels it is important that celebrities contribute to raise awareness.

This sentiment was shared by Gertrude Abela from Europa Donna Breast Cancer Support Group and Esther Sant from the Action for Breast Cancer Foundation.

“I think it’s very important that they talk about these things… I admire (Angelina). It’s a drastic situation to be told you might be getting breast cancer and to have to decide whether or not to remove your breasts,” Ms Abela said.

*Not her real name.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.