Finding Strength and Advocacy During Breast Cancer Awareness Month

As October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, CURE sat down for a candid conversation with breast cancer survivor and mother, Jennie Smythe, who shared her journey from diagnosis to survivorship.

Smythe, who was diagnosed at 41 while raising two young children, now serves as an Advocacy Ambassador for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, where she leverages her platform to amplify patient voices and drive meaningful change in breast cancer research and policy.

During this conversation with CURE, she reflects on the lessons she wishes she had known at diagnosis, shares insights for other parents facing similar struggles, and emphasizes the importance of representation during awareness months.

CURE: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Looking back on your own story, what do you wish you had known when you were first diagnosed at 41?

I think the biggest piece of advice that I could have used in those first few months is the knowledge that this was going to be a super long process. I think that the initial shock of diagnosis is so profound, and you just kind of get thrust into all the things that you have to do.

If I had known on the other side that survivorship comes with a whole community of people that help you throughout every aspect of your treatment, I think I would have felt a little less alone, a little less isolated in those first few months.

What would you want to share with other parents or caregivers who are going through a similar experience?

A message that I would really love to share with other parents that are going through this struggle is that you will absolutely find superhuman strength through this process.

I sometimes compare (not in a good way) to being pregnant and being a working mom and having a toddler, which is what happened to me; you have your second child, and you just sort of keep going. I felt that similarly during cancer treatment, that things just kept piling on the schedule. It was more appointments, more treatment, more one-off issues that had to be addressed. However, I felt very strongly about trying to keep things as normal as possible, at home and at work. I feel like you just become superhuman in all the things that you can tolerate at one time.

I will say that I was so surprised by the support that I had with people. I did learn to ask for help, and I did learn to accept help, which are two different things. Looking back, I went on autopilot, and that's OK. There are people that want to shut down. There are people that want the distractions. I think what I mostly learned is that everybody addresses things a little bit differently, but specifically to the women in the breast cancer communities that I relied on, they all sort of showed me some tips and some tricks, but they were all superhuman in their own way.

You’re also an advocacy ambassador for Susan G. Komen. How has your advocacy work shaped your journey, and why do you think it’s important for patients to have representation during awareness months?

I feel like being an advocate was a job that I was signed up for that I didn't apply to, and I was so lucky to be connected with multiple verticals within the Komen organization. When I saw that there was an opportunity to be an advocate, I signed up for it right away, because as much as I love to be a part of the community, and I certainly took advantage of the support and the tools that Komen offers to patients, I believe with my whole body that we will see a vaccine in my lifetime for the type of cancer that I have unfortunately suffered from, and the way to do that is research and legislation.

Being able to fly up to Washington, D.C., meet people in my state, meet people in my region, meet people in my country, and see all of us fighting for something that is uniquely bipartisan and affects so many women and men and other cancers. I mean, it's not just breast cancer, it's women's health in general. And to see the level of advocacy that that organization and other organizations that are within that coalition, and how they're working together, I just knew I needed to be a part of it.

I don't know if you've never been to Washington and you've never sat in those meetings, but it's a pretty eye-opening experience about how our government actually works. And I will tell you, the night before, I panicked a little because I felt kind of ignorant about it, and I rewatched that old cartoon, the bill cartoon, you know, about how things get done. It was strangely comforting and also really entertaining. I think everybody should watch that. But I just felt like I had all this energy and I have all this fight in me about it. Instead of turning that energy and that fight into anger and “why me?”, I just decided that I would use my voice to stand up for all of us.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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