Former Bachelor Contestant Lesley Murphy Gets Breast Reconstructive Surgery Post-Double Mastectomy
Updated: Jul. 11, 2017
With a strong risk for developing breast cancer, Bachelor alum Lesley Murphy took the initiative with surgery to lower her chances.
Almost three months after getting a preventative double mastectomy, former Bachelor contestant Lesley Murphy revealed that she got breast implants.
Murphy, who appeared on Sean Lowe’s season of The Bachelor, had a double mastectomy back in April after medical tests revealed that she was BRCA2 positive, According to the Canadian Cancer Society, would have a 40 to 85 per cent chance of developing breast cancer at some point.
Lesley Murphy’s surgery
After having expanders placed in Murphy’s chest post-mastectomy, she went back into surgery for breast reconstructive surgery, which resulted in 500 CC breast implants, though she didn’t know what she was going to come out with.
“My plastic surgeon said he tried many different variations and after consulting every woman in the hospital he decided on 500 CC implants, which is actually smaller than my expander side,” she explained, likening the expanders to having two big boulders on her chest.
More and more women are opting for mastectomies
Murphy isn’t the first celeb to make this courageous decision.
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie Pitt took the same preventative measures back in 2013 and then later had her ovaries and fallopian tube removed in 2015 after she was also at high-risk for breast and ovarian cancer from carrying the mutated BRCA1 gene.
Actress Christina Applegate also underwent a double mastectomy in 2008 after being fully diagnosed with breast cancer and not just the mutated gene.
About those BRCA genes
The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can be passed down hereditarily, and women who have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer are often eligible for genetic screening. And these genetic tests can provide early detection and preventative measures to both cancers.
With the risks for breast cancer being anywhere from 40 to 85 per cent and ovarian cancer being 15 to 65 per cent with a positive diagnosis on these genes, preventative mastectomies and oophorectomies (surgery to remove the ovaries) are often the clearest decisions, as in the case of these celebs, to ensure there is no risk of cancer in the future.
