My Medical Choice - Angelina Jolie On Her Double Mastectomy

I loved Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. Then in Wanted, and her action movies including Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The whole scandal with Brad Pitt kind of muddied the waters, but in my opinion, she pulled through it pretty OK. She has since then gone on to star in, and direct more great movies.

Angelina Jolie is a hands-on philanthropist and humanitarian ambassador, and she's of course a role model for adoption, and I respect her for that. However, after reading this op-ed article she wrote for the New York Times, where she comes out about having both her breasts removed (double mastectomy) to reduce her chances of cancer, my respect for her has doubled if not quadrupled.

I wish her the best with her health and family. Please read and be inspired, and share.

MY MOTHER fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.

We often speak of “Mommy’s mommy,” and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a “faulty” gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.

Women who Motivate #4 - Funmi Iyanda

Olufunmilola Aduke Iyanda (born 27 July 1971), better known as Funmi Iyanda, is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist, columnist and blogger. She produced and hosted Nigeria’s most popular and authoritative talk show New Dawn with Funmi, which aired on the national network for over eight years.

Funmi is the CEO of Ignite Media, a content-driven media organization operating out of Lagos. In 2011, she was honoured as a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum and was recently named one of Forbes 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa.

Women who Motivate #3 - Chimamanda Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. She is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus (2003) and Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and of the short story collection The Thing around Your Neck (2009). She has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007) and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (2008).

Women's Motivational Stories #2 - Mo Abudu

Mosunmola Abudu, also known as Mo Abudu, is a talk show host, TV producer, media personality, human resources management consultant and entrepreneur. She is best known as the Executive Producer and host of the TV talk show, Moments with Mo,

Moments with Mo "is the first syndicated daily talk show on African regional television." According to wiki,

By October 2009, over 200 episodes had been recorded and aired with numerous topics ranging from lifestyle, through health, culture, politics, entertainment, tradition, to music and inter-racial marriages. Guests have included celebrities, Presidents, Nobel Laureates, and the 67th US Secretary-of-State Hillary Rodham Clinton,[2] Abudu says the show "highlights the life and accomplishments of a usually well known, but sometimes an undiscovered African individual who by his or her own tenacity and determination has accomplished something, overcome something or been a catalyst for something that makes her or him a role model to others."
Aired on M-Net with TV coverage in 48 African countries, the show now also airs on terrestrial and cable TV in other parts of the world.