Central Point, Ore.– “A third distilled water, a third avocado oil and a third witch hazel,” Jill Kennedy shares her recipe for homemade eye makeup remover as she mixes up a fresh batch in her Central Point home kitchen. It’s a hobby she’s always had, but one she grew more passionate about when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“If you can put less chemicals in your body, it will be happier,” says Jill.
She was told she had three lumps in her breasts in 2010.
“Oh my goodness. You hear the word cancer and it’s like Charlie Brown’s teacher. You lose it you can’t even hear anything after that.”
Jill quickly had a mastectomy and began chemo therapy. Her husband was by her side even shaving his head when she lost her hair. Jill had all the support she needed, even finding a support group with cancer survivors in the Rogue Valley, but her biggest struggle was how chemo effected her fitness.
“[I was] at the peak of my life. Hadn’t ever been so fit.”
Medications over the past six years have weakened Jill’s bones leaving her frustrated, but she still has hope.
“There is going to be a day where I can run again,” says Jill.
Until then, she focuses on giving the same kind of support she received from her family and friends.
“It feels good to give back, it really does.”
So when the author of “Beauty after Breast Cancer” called and wanted her to share her story she agreed to help.
“There is beauty after breast cancer. You will be stronger and more beautiful,” Jill exclaims. “I’m a breast cancer survivor and I am beautiful.”
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