NEED TO KNOW
- Today contributor Jill Martin wrote a letter thanking herself for her resilience and positivity before she underwent her latest surgery in her breast cancer battle
- “You’ve been through a lot — body, mind, spirit. And somehow… we’re still here,” Martin wrote in her emotional message
- Martin, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023, also shared encouraging words for others fighting the disease, writing, “I see you,” and “I’m with you”
Today contributor Jill Martin took a moment for herself before she underwent the final breast reconstruction surgery in her cancer battle.
Martin, 49, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023. She’s had multiple surgeries since, and penned a letter to herself before her most recent procedure. In the message, which she posted to Instagram on Tuesday, May 13 — when she was at home healing from the procedure, which she said “went well” — Martin celebrated remaining strong and present, no matter what struggles she’s facing.
“You’ve been through a lot — body, mind, spirit. And somehow… we’re still here. Still standing,” she wrote. “Still fighting. Still finding joy.”
She continued, “Today is what we hope will be the final surgery -reconstruction. (Yeah, I’ve said that before — and I know some of you get it.) But today, after seven surgeries, Chemotherapy, radiation and my ‘safety net chemo pills’… I just want to say thank you.”
Martin then went on to thank her body “for showing up even when it was tired” and “for healing in ways I didn’t think were possible.” She also thanked her mind “for staying strong, sharp, and kind — even in the hardest moments.”
Also in her letter, Martin acknowledged the part of her that “kept believing there was light at the end of this road.”
“Although I look different, feel different — I still feel magical. There is so much life left to live, and I plan to live it fully,” she wrote.
She ended her post by sending an encouraging message to anyone facing a similar struggle.
“To anyone in the middle of it — I see you. To every survivor out there — I’m with you. This road is brutal, beautiful, and deeply personal,” Martin wrote. “And no matter how many steps it takes, every one forward counts. Here’s to resilience. To softness and strength coexisting. And to whatever comes next — we’ve got this.”
Martin received her breast cancer diagnosis three months after a clean mammogram and sonogram.
After finding out that she had tested positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation, Martin was told she had a 60-90% chance of getting breast cancer, and her doctor recommended Martin undergo a double mastectomy. During an MRI before the procedure, doctors found a one-to-two inch cancerous mass in her left breast, and she was diagnosed with aggressive stage 2b breast cancer.
“You think it’s not you—until it’s you,” Martin told PEOPLE in April. She added, “If we hadn’t caught it within the year, it would have been incurable.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In the next year, Martin underwent four months of chemotherapy — which she described as “physical and mental torture” — as well as a double mastectomy, reconstructive surgery and a preventative procedure in which her ovaries and fallopian tubes were removed.
Martin, who is now cancer free, told PEOPLE the disease changed her life “in such powerful ways and in really beautiful ways too.”
“I was given this platform to be able to help people,” Martin said. “It gives me a tremendous amount of purpose. I am much more at ease, calm, who I am, since having cancer.”
Read the full article here
