Jessica Reckner of Chester Springs, PA is a grateful Chester County Hospital cervical cancer patient.
Like many of the people you might meet in Chester County, Jessica Reckner is a friend, a wife, and a mom to her 7-year-old son, Logan. She and her family love to hike and ski. They have two golden retrievers, and they all love to spend time in the mountains.
She is a resident of Chester Springs, PA and works as the Director of Patient Marketing for a biotech company. While cancer is a big part of her work life, she never expected it to impact her personal life significantly.
"Cancer is a scary word."
Jessica's journey began during a non-scheduled pap smear in 2016. She and her husband were planning on having a second child, and she wanted to make sure that everything was all right.
"I just wanted to ensure everything was okay," Jessica says. While she was not considered high-risk at her age, she described having a "weird feeling".
"I didn't have any symptoms or signs or anything other than a strange feeling," she explained. This strange feeling led to a non-scheduled pap smear and her OBGYN noticing something unusual.
After a biopsy on the tissue, Jessica found out a few days later that she had cervical cancer.
Jessica remembers her initial feelings upon her diagnosis and her fear of the unknown. "I was in shock," she says. "I was shocked and scared. Cancer is scary, and it's easy to gravitate toward the worst-case scenario."
That changed once she met her oncology team at The Abramson Cancer Center at Chester County Hospital.
"Once I had a plan...I felt confident."
"After my first appointment with my doctor and his nurse navigator -- I had a different perspective of what I was dealing with, what my cancer was, and what the plan was," Jessica says. "Once I planned how we would go after this, I felt emotionally prepared. I felt energized, and I felt confident."
Robert L. Giuntoli, MD
Gynedologic Oncologist
Leading Jessica's team was Penn Medicine surgical oncologist Robert L. Giuntoli, II, MD. As a nationally recognized surgeon, Dr. Guintoli specializes in gynecologic cancers and other gynecologic conditions that require surgery.
"Dr. Giuntoli is a brilliant surgeon," Jessica shared. "He's compassionate, empathic, and confident, all the things I want in my doctor. He can take complex medical things and translate them to his patients in a way they can understand, which instilled my confidence that I was at the right place with the right doctor and that I had the right team."
Navigating cancer can be difficult, but with her Chester County Hospital team behind her, Jessica underwent a successful hysterectomy, six rounds of chemo, and, later, an oophorectomy in 2019 when cancer was discovered in her ovaries. Jessica attributes the success of her treatments not only to her physicians but to the nursing team -- especially January Chaffee-Pasquantonio, CRNP, and Jennifer Cox, BSN, RN.
Nurse navigators at Chester County Hospital are a resource to families when they are going through a serious medical event -- like cancer or a heart issue. Nurse navigators can help explain what services are available, coordinate tests and procedures, and be a bridge between patients and their physicians.
"Oncology nurses are special people," Jessica says. "Their compassion for their patients is beyond anything I've ever seen. Without my nurse navigator, Jen Cox, BSN, RN, I couldn't have done this."
"Ask for help — you can't do it alone."
Since her diagnosis, surgeries, and multiple rounds of chemotherapy, Jessica has realized the power of her own story and has made it a point to share that story with others.
"I've learned I can help others by talking about it. I also learned how important it is to ask for help," Jessica says. "You can't do it alone. I needed help in the form of friends for emotional support. I needed help from my husband for the smallest things, like just walking a few feet to the bathroom to being present for all of the good, bad, and ugly moments. I needed help from someone to clean my house and make food for my family when I was getting my treatment."
Jessica also shared that she recommends people seek out help for all the different challenges that come with a cancer diagnosis — even the ones you may not think someone can help with, like getting a wig if you're going through chemotherapy.
"Not only are you dealing with a diagnosis, but you're also navigating losing your hair and wondering, 'How am I going to get a wig? How do I know what fits, and how do I style it?'"
Jessica's answer came from the SHiNE Foundation at Chester County Hospital, which donated her first wig.
"Not having to worry about my first wig while going through treatment was huge. Knowing that there's a foundation to help patients and point you in the right direction can be a huge weight off your shoulders."
"There's light. There's hope. There's energy."
Jessica has been disease-free for three years now. She continues to show up for her community, share her story, and offer her insight into the cancer process to anyone who asks.
"It's okay to be upset. It's okay to be sad," Jessica wants to say to people who may have received their own diagnosis. Through her cancer journey, she also took an emotional journey.
"My advice is to find that moment where you transition that sadness into focus," she says. "Ask yourself, 'What's my plan?' And then rally your energy, thoughts, and everything you have behind your plan. Because once you make that transition, there's light. There's hope. There's energy. There is a community of people you might not have seen before waiting to support you and cheer you on."
Jessica Reckner gets back to one of her favorite things she missed while recovering from cervical cancer -- playing with her goldens.