Angelina Jolie Breast Cancer: Actress Inspires CNN Anchor to Open Up About Her Own Mastectomy

Zoraida Sambolin, the co-anchor of CNN's Early Start has been inspired by Jolie's bold op-ed describing her decision to have a preventative mastectomy. On Tuesday morning, she shared her own battle breast cancer and her upcoming mastectomy scheduled for May 28 with her viewers. Sambolin says that she's "grateful" to Jolie for paving the way for other women to open up about the surgeries that many breast cancer victims have to undergo.

"She said I feel empowered, that I'm in a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity," Sambolin said about Jolie. "You know, it's nice to hear somebody else talk about it and have that support of a lot of women around you."

"At the end of the day, I need to have peace of mind," she said. "I need to sleep at night. I have two kids that are my world, like any woman, and it's what you think about. So I thought for me, this would be the best decision moving forward so I could feel confident that it's not something that I'm going to have to deal with that much more in the future."

Supportive messages poured into her Facebook page after she made her announcement. One user said: "You are an amazing and strong woman and I know you will beat this!" Another told her "I know you will overcome this challenge!"

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