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Jill Martin Says Chemotherapy Has Been ‘Hell for Me’ After Double Mastectomy: ‘Cancer Will Take Your Soul’
Vanessa Etienne – October 4, 2023
“I’m fighting for my life,” said the ‘Today’ show’s Jill Martin, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in June
The Today show’s Jill Martin is sharing an emotional update on her breast cancer journey.
On Wednesday, the lifestyle and commerce contributor appeared on the morning show, alongside Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie, and detailed her difficult experience going through chemotherapy.
“It’s a disconnect because I look like me and I sound like me but it’s been hard. As difficult as it’s been, it was so important to document this journey while fighting in real time,” she began.
“This has been hell for me and my family for the past two and a half months but it could’ve been prevented,” she said, holding back tears. “This is my story so far. I can’t believe this is my movie. I’m still in shock. I’m grieving as I’m healing and as I’m fighting.”
Martin recently underwent a successful double mastectomy just weeks after revealing her June breast cancer diagnosis. However, following the mastectomy she was told that she still needed chemotherapy because cancer was found in her lymph nodes.
“Cancer will take whatever you let it. It will take your soul, it’ll take your hair. And that might seem small to you, but it’s not. Cancer wants everything,” she said.
Throughout her treatment, Martin has continued her work on the Today show, hoping that it’ll give her a sense of normalcy and encourage others to get tested and learn the importance of early detection.
“When I walk into the studio, I feel loved, I feel safe. The Today family is my family. It feels like home to me. Everyone knows what I’m going through and everyone’s amazing. You think I’m gonna let cancer take away something else I love to do?” she quipped.
However, Martin admitted that her breast cancer battle has taken a toll on her both physically and mentally.
“When I look in the mirror at the show, I can forget for a second. And I think people are like, ‘Oh, your surgery’s done! You’re good.’ But I leave the show and then I’m back in reality and I’m fighting for my life,” she said. “I feel like I’m a shell of myself, at least for me.”
Chemotherapy has been hard on her body, but Martin said it’s her “friend” as she fights “this horrible disease.” She said she’s constantly sleeping and amid treatment, she’s been trying cold capping.
Cold capping is a form of treatment where a patient wears a chilled, helmet-type hat that constricts blood vessels in hopes of preventing chemo from reaching hair follicles and lessening hair loss.
“For me, my hair’s always been something that’s made me feel like myself,” Martin explained on the show, noting that she’s lost “about 30%” of her hair due to chemotherapy. “I look in the mirror, my body’s not my body anymore.”
“A year ago, Sept. 10, I was married and I felt so beautiful that night and I felt so happy and I enjoyed every pig in a blanket. But I can’t help but think, I had cancer there, and if I would have caught it then, would I not have needed all of this?” she said in tears.
Despite the emotional and taxing journey, Martin insists that she’s going to beat breast cancer.
“It’s hard. I’m happy it’s me and not my husband, [Erik Brooks], not my parents, because I can’t imagine watching someone go through this thing,” she said. “The treatment weeks are effing hell. Anyone who’s fighting breast cancer, it’s nothing but.”
“But I will own forever that I had this and that I fought it and that I beat it,” Martin added. “Because I’ll beat it.”