An excerpt from Jessica's story:

"Knowing I would lose my breasts, I feared losing a part of me that I never really understood the importance of until it was going to be taken away; taking away what fed my son, taking away where he would rest his head for comfort, taking away a part of my femininity, and replacing it with something that wanted to make me numb. What has made me numb in places has invigorated and brought so much life and feeling to the rest of me.

When someone tells you that you must give up things that have kept you comfortable, things that you don’t want to face, it helps you escape; You can either embrace it or curse it. I used this chapter in my life to let go of relationships I had made excuses for, chase relationships I had once given up on, live healthy, live sober, and live as though my chapters hadn’t even started. Three surgeries and countless statistical facts later. I am grateful that my story is in permanent marker. There are no mistakes, no typos; they are simply intentional words that, when standing in the bookstore aisle, I could escape into, and know if someone reads the story, they might feel sorry for me, but they will also see that I am not a victim and I’m not simply surviving; I am thriving."

Thank you to Guardant Health for their support of the Still I Rise Podcast. Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on guarding wellness and giving every person more time free from cancer. Their blood and tissue tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care; they can screen to help find cancer early, monitor for recurrence in early-stage cancer patients, and enable timely and targeted treatment selection for those with advanced cancer. For more information, visit guardanthealth.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook.

View Jessica's video version of this story at: https://www.facebook.com/YouNightStories

You can also find the video version of this story on our YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdiqPH-w1iWHUiC4yfgecTIlr703lqw57&si=Ai8lVX93vYJsGDJP

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Still I Rise features stories from You Night's STORY CRAFTING COMMUNITY. To read additional stories, visit our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/YouNightStories. Would you like to participate in a 6-week Story Crafting small group experience so that you can share your story? Write to us at teamyounight@gmail.com