It started with a routine scan

Jennifer Butcher, originally from Bloomington, now calls the quiet town of Avoca, Indiana home. That calm was disrupted in January 2022 when she received a diagnosis that turned her world upside down.

She has a family history of breast cancer but didn’t realize she missed years of screenings in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

Then, what she assumed would be a routine mammogram revealed she had breast cancer.

She chose to receive care in Bloomington from Jacqueline Joyce, MD, a physician she had previously seen for a bleeding disorder.

“I knew she was wonderful,” Butcher recalls. “So, I chose her and chose treatment there, in a familiar place.”

To help with the commute, she was able to get her radiation a bit closer to home at Bedford.

“I started treatment on April 1, which was no joke—it was the real deal,” says Butcher.

Throughout her year-long breast cancer journey, her husband, four children and three grandchildren were her biggest support system.

“My husband never missed an appointment. He went to every chemo, every treatment, took me to every infusion,” says Butcher. “My family gave me their full support and I'm very thankful for that.”

Butcher also found strength in her nurse navigators, who were there to answer questions, assist with any needs along the way and even helped provide her with gas cards through the “Girlfriend Fund” to help with travel costs.

“I was very sick and had a lot of side effects and a lot of questions—questions I didn't realize that I would have,” Butcher shares. “Every time I called my navigator, she was right there. She was amazing, and I really appreciated all her help.”

With daily infusions and frequent appointments, Butcher developed close relationships with her care team and everyone she met during her treatment.

“I made lifelong friendships with some of them, and they're like family to me,” says Butcher.

She is now cancer free and so grateful to everyone who helped her along the way.