Jan Zimmerman was a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, confidant, advocate and so much more. She also lived with breast cancer for 13 years before it finally took her life in January, 2008.
Although the initial diagnosis was devastating – she was given less than a 10 percent chance of living longer than 6 months – she faced the disease in the eye and decided it was not going to take her. Not yet.
Despite so many struggles and hurdles, she was able to live life her way. After her initial diagnosis in 1995, Jan never lived cancer-free. She dealt with it one way or another every day. It forever changed her life.
Jan, like many other cancer patients, went through a lot. Lots of emotions, lots of treatments, lots of scared times. Along the way, she says she became a stronger person and learned a great deal.
So, she made a promise to herself – if she could get through the ordeal facing her, she would devote a great deal of her life to helping other women get through it, too. She knew it was possible to live with a catastrophic illness and still maintain a decent quality of life. She knew that there can be good times and laughter again. She knew there can be joy and purpose again.
She culminated her promise by seeing her book, Hands Off My Hope! Life Lessons On My Journey With Breast Cancer, published just one month before she died.
Although she is gone, her legacy lives on. As does her ability to help and inspire those who still face a daily struggle.
“Written with humor and an intense sense of pragmatism, this book should be helpful to anyone who is dealing with breast cancer personally or has a family member or friend who it”
–Ellen Hoffman, author and journalist
