Portsmouth breast cancer survivor celebrates National Cancer Survivor Month through giving back
PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth resident, Jen Spindel, registered for the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk, presented by Hyundai, after being diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, an incredibly rare from of breast cancer. Most women are misdiagnosed with an infection. "I was incredibly lucky to be diagnosed correctly and get set on the path to receive the correct treatment from the start,” Spindel explains.
It all started in November 2021. After a whirlwind of tests, biopsies, and exams, Spindel’s nurse at University of New Hampshire health clinic correctly determined that she had cancer. This led to a mammogram, ultrasound, and a biopsy the next day. “My very first mammogram ended up being my last,” Spindel says. Her diagnosis was Inflammatory Breast Cancer Stage 3b. You can learn more about her story here.
"My oncologist, Dr. Devon Evans, connected me to Dana-Farber because it’s one of the few places that specialized in and collects data about inflammatory breast cancer,” Spindel describes. "We wanted to see if there were any clinical trials that I was eligible for, and I wanted to contribute my bio data to Dana-Farber so that hopefully we can learn more about this disease. During my consult at Dana-Farber, I learned that women are commonly misdiagnosed, and that even when they do learn they have cancer, they aren’t often given the proper treatment (chemo, surgery, radiation). Dana-Farber is trying to change that, and I share their commitment to education. To me, Dana-Farber is a beacon of hope.”
After countless rounds of treatment, Spindel finally finished treatment in January 2023. "It was an incredibly long journey, and looking back on it, it feels like time just stopped,” she says. "My goal was to get through the next treatment – whether that was an infusion of chemo, surgery or physical therapy, or the daily radiation I received for five weeks. Now that I’m about a year and half out from active treatment, I’m starting to get back to ‘normal' – whatever that actually means!”
And normal to Spindel is giving back. She joined the Jimmy Fund Walk as a way to give back to her community. "I feel so lucky to have had such wonderful doctors and to have benefited from groundbreaking research – the immunotherapy drugs I was on basically didn’t exist ten years ago!” Since then, she has even been named a Walk Hero in 2022. She plans to continue her involvement by walking with Team IBC this year, which raises money that goes directly back to inflammatory breast cancer research at Dana-Farber.
“As a patient, defying cancer means searching for treatments and supporting clinical trials to try to beat this disease, even in the face of overwhelming odds,” Spindel describes. "The outcomes for inflammatory breast cancer are not great, and reading the oncology research while I was being diagnosed was scary and depressing. Now as a cancer survivor and patient advocate, defy cancer has a more expansive meaning to me: it’s about the mobilization of resources to more permanently fight this disease. That means mobilizing friends and family for emotional support, mobilizing and funding doctors and clinicians doing research to find new treatments, and mobilizing the public to be more educated and informed about cancer, cancer risk, and cancer treatment. It’s a defiance of cancer on all fronts.”
The 2024 Jimmy Fund Walk will take place on Sunday, Oct. 6, and raises funds to support all forms of adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at the nation’s premier cancer center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Whether participating for themselves, loved ones, neighbors, or co-workers, each walker shares a common purpose: to defy cancer and support breakthroughs that will benefit cancer patients around the world.
Participants have the flexibility to choose from four distance options: 5K walk (from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute); 10K walk (from Newton); Half Marathon walk (from Wellesley); Marathon walk (from Hopkinton). Walkers can participate virtually, as well.
The Jimmy Fund Walk has raised more than $176 million for Dana-Farber Cancer in its 35-year history, raising a record-breaking $9.4 million in 2023. To register for the Walk (#JimmyFundWalk) or to support a walker, visit www.JimmyFundWalk.org or call (866) 531-9255. Walkers can sign up by June 30 to receive a limited-edition Jimmy Fund Walk drawstring bag.The bag is perfect for an on-the-go lifestyle and summer training walks.