While people debate the importance of Angelina Jolie's preventive double mastectomy decision, there is at least one person who entirely empathizes with her.

Sara Tenenbein, wellness coach, author and blogger, went down Jolie's path at the age of 28, almost a decade younger than when Jolie did it. And she has a message for breast reconstruction vendors.

Their stories are strikingly similar in terms of the fear that dogs women who have a higher chance for being diagnosed with breast cancer. Tenenbein, who in January published her own experience with the fear of breast cancer and the annual, uncomfortable gynecological appointments, also had a mother who was diagnosed with the disease at 37. Unlike Jolie's mother, however, her mother survived.

Tenenbein was closely monitored since she turned 21. Later, like Jolie she took the test for the BRCA genetic mutation and learned she was positive. Initially she chose for closer monitoring, but nearing her late 20s the fear took over. In an article about her experience and in an email she sent this week to me, she wrote:

She ended up choosing prophylactic bilateral mastectomy in 2011, at the age of 28. While her doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering chose the mastectomy drains expanders following the procedure, Tenenbein researched her reconstruction options online and interviewed other women before making her final choice: the Allergan Natrelle cohesive gel implant. 

She is happy with the decision and feels that there is a value in understanding the devices used in this type of surgery. But Tenenbein has a message for device makers in this industry:

"When I was researching implant types it would have been helpful to have consumer friendly sites," she said.

That should indeed be a given, considering the intimate use of such devices. 

-- By Arundhati Parmar, Senior Editor, MD+DI

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