When Jennifer Mitchell was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022, her future suddenly felt uncertain. Today, she looks back with gratitude for the milestones she's been able to experience since then, including her son's wedding and the births of two grandchildren.
Mitchell is the manager of the Cath Lab and Interventional Radiology at SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - St. Charles in Missouri. She has spent more than three decades caring for others. Like many health care professionals, she balanced a busy schedule, long days, and competing priorities. In late 2021, she even postponed a couple of routine screening mammogram appointments because work kept getting in the way.
"I'm always telling people now, don't put it off. Just do it," Mitchell said.
That advice comes from personal experience. In January 2022, while taking a day off for her birthday, she finally rescheduled the screening she had delayed.
A follow-up appointment was recommended because of dense breast tissue, something she had experienced before. But this time, additional imaging led to a biopsy. Soon after, Mitchell received life-changing news: she had breast cancer.
The diagnosis was triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease.
"As a nurse, I knew enough to understand it was serious, but I certainly wasn't a breast cancer expert," Mitchell said. "All of a sudden, I was the patient."
The experience gave her a completely different perspective on the fear and uncertainty patients often face.
"Being on the patient side is so very different," she said. "You hear words and diagnoses that are unfamiliar, and it's scary."
Fortunately, the cancer was discovered early. Because it was detected through routine screening, Mitchell's cancer was identified at Stage 1.
She began chemotherapy in February 2022. The months that followed brought many of the challenges that cancer patients know all too well, including hair loss, neuropathy, and other side effects. Through it all, she continued working with support from her team and colleagues.
Throughout treatment, Mitchell continued working while balancing chemotherapy appointments and the challenges that came with them. She credits her Cath Lab team and colleagues for helping her navigate that difficult chapter.
"I worked through treatment, but luckily my teams were great," Mitchell said. "If there were days I wasn't feeling well, I could go home or stay home. Their support made such a difference."
Mitchell said the experience reinforced the importance of teamwork and compassion, both inside and outside the hospital walls.
Following chemotherapy, Mitchell underwent surgery and reconstruction in August 2022.
Today, she remains cancer-free and continues regular follow-up appointments with her care team.
Looking back, she is grateful she kept that mammogram appointment.
"I had no family history of breast cancer," Mitchell said. "There was nobody in my immediate family and no major risk factors that made me think this was something I would have to deal with."
That reality is one reason she is so passionate about encouraging others to stay current on screenings.
"People sometimes think if they don't have a family history or risk factors, they don't need to get checked," she said. "But you do."
The journey also changed the way she approaches patient care.
As a nurse leader, Mitchell frequently supports patients and families during stressful and unexpected situations. Having experienced the uncertainty of a serious diagnosis herself, she says she now brings an even deeper level of empathy to those conversations.
"It just hits differently when you've been through it yourself," she said. "You understand how much those moments mean to patients and families."
Her experience inspired her to support others beyond the walls of the hospital as well. Mitchell serves as a mentor through Faith Through Fire, a program that connects breast cancer survivors with newly diagnosed patients.
During her own treatment, she found tremendous comfort in speaking with another survivor who had undergone the same diagnosis and treatment plan. Now, she provides that same support for others beginning their cancer journey.
"Sometimes when you're going through something like that, you feel very alone," she said. "It helps to hear from someone who's been there and made it to the other side."
Four years after her diagnosis, Mitchell says cancer has given her a greater appreciation for life's everyday moments. She makes time for vacations, family gatherings and experiences she might once have postponed. She treasures time with her grandchildren and finds joy in simple things, from taking walks to feeding birds in her backyard.
More than anything, the experience reinforced a lesson she hopes others will remember.
"If you don't have your health, you don't have anything," Mitchell said. "You can have all the money in the world, but if you're not healthy enough to enjoy life, none of that matters."
Her message is straightforward but powerful: prioritize your health, keep your screening appointments and don't wait.
That one appointment can make all the difference.
