World Cancer Day: Jess Finds Hope and Gratitude Through Advanced Cancer

Jess Thornton was vigilant about getting her cancer screenings. With a family history of breast cancer, she got breast imaging annually.

In July 2024, a few months before her 40th birthday, Jess went in for a breast MRI, assuming it would be another routine appointment. She was in good health, with her bubbly miracle baby girl just over a year old and a fulfilling job in billing and coding at University of Florida Health.

But the results that popped up on her phone were a shock: Her breasts looked clear, but the MRI had picked up lesions on her liver, visible in the periphery of the imaging. Jess barely had time to absorb the implications before she was hit by more head-spinning news, delivered on her phone the same day: routine dental imaging showed her beloved Irish terrier, Danny Boy, had throat cancer.

Jess soon had a diagnosis: Stage 4 colorectal cancer that had spread to her liver and lymph nodes. She was immediately thrust into grueling, high-dose radiation treatments, long days of chemo infusions, surgeries, blood transfusions, imaging and seemingly endless appointments.

About six months into her treatment, we talked with Jess about her experience as a patient with cancer for a podcast on World Cancer Day. A year later, through setbacks and trials, the loss of Danny Boy and the impromptu joys of toddlerhood, Jess is redefining optimism and resilience.

“Healing for me is finding the moments of hope and gratitude,” she said. “I think if you can find those, it allows you to heal through the process, through the day, the small things and the bigger things. Finding the things to be thankful for and the things that give you hope, that heals me inside and out.”

Gratitude comes in the minutiae: A cup of tea, a butterfly her daughter points out.

“I keep a vision board, I journal, I make sure I keep motivated and find things to appreciate and just live in the moment and be grateful for every good moment,” Jess said. “That’s been my way to get through it so far.”

Gratitude also comes in the heavy, including reminders of the importance of routine cancer screenings to detect cancer early, when it’s usually most treatable. It’s a message Jess wants to share with others.

“If I hadn’t had my breast MRI, I probably wouldn’t have known until it got so bad that it either blocked my intestines or it was in my lungs or it had spread to my spine or brain,” Jess said.

Colorectal cancer is still a disease that’s mostly curable with early diagnosis, said Krista Terracina, MD, Jess’ colorectal surgeon and an assistant professor in the UF Department of Surgery.

“For patients whose disease has spread, modern treatments and an aggressive, multidisciplinary approach mean many patients can live much longer than in the past,” Dr. Terracina said. “Jess is someone who has asked smart questions, traveled far and been willing to try aggressive, evidence-based strategies to strive for survival. She’s passionate about pursuing life, and her story is inspiring for anyone facing colorectal cancer.”

Heart-wrenching setbacks

After an initial six months of chemotherapy and radiation, Jess’ primary tumors were responding well to treatment. However, her liver tumors required more aggressive treatment. In March, she had a pump placed in her abdomen that allowed a more potent dose of chemo to be delivered straight to her liver. Complications followed, and the pump was discontinued.

Because of the large number of tumors in her liver, Jess is not a candidate for surgery, but she held out hope that she might be eligible for a liver transplant. In October, she underwent surgery to remove her primary tumor, a required step before she could be evaluated for transplant.

Unfortunately, doctors found cancer on the outer lining of her rectum, vagina and bladder, called the peritoneal lining. The tumors may have been too small to detect on imaging. The cancer’s spread means she’s not a candidate for a transplant and will be on chemo indefinitely.

“I’ll be on chemo for a long time, but despite how many liver tumors I have, my liver is functioning really well,” Jess said. “My vital organs are doing great. Aside from the cancer that either spread to my peritoneal lining or we discovered on my peritoneal lining, it hasn’t grown. It seems to be maintained by the chemo.”

She stays motivated by researching clinical trials and emerging technologies. The promise of an alternative to endless chemo is a constant ray of hope.

“Technology advances so fast now, and I’m really hoping there’ll be more options in five years,” Jess said. “It’s very possible I could live 10 years like this, just doing chemo every other week. Every other week, I feel pretty cruddy, but I usually have five good days where I feel kind of myself, with just a few side effects. For the most part, I can run errands, I can pick my daughter up from daycare and I can play with her.”

With bouncy blond ringlets and a boundless smile, her daughter Imogen, now 2 1/2, is a buoy through the trials.

“She gives me so much more to fight for,” Jess said. “She’s taught me so much. When you’re a little kid, you just adjust to everything. Seeing her and her resilience, it’s really inspired me. Maybe this is my normal, and that’s OK. There are still so many good things. She’s my miracle, and I think she’s saving me.”

Progress for patients

The most promising developments in colorectal cancer treatment are targeted therapies and treatment strategies tailored to patients’ molecular profiles and anatomy, Dr. Terracina said. These include chemotherapy options, targeted antibodies for growth factors and immunotherapy. Additionally, there are improved surgical and procedural options to manage disease that has spread.

“For patients like Jess, there are a lot of treatments still available,” Dr. Terracina said. “At UF, we take a team-based approach. We’re all engaged on the national stage with other providers who are trying to do the same thing: find the best options for our patients.”

At the same time, these developments that are extending patients’ lives and improving the quality of life of people with colorectal cancer are coinciding with a dramatic increase in cancer incidence in patients younger than 45.

That’s the age at which screening is recommended for those at average risk.

“Colorectal cancer is something that we are getting better and better at treating, but we are seeing more advanced cases in young people at the key moments of life where they’re starting a family or career,” Dr. Terracina said. “This increase has been slow and can be seen in the data creeping up for several decades, but now it’s reached a critical point where I see patients in their 30s and early 40s with cancer in my clinic every week. It’s critically important that patients and primary care providers recognize that any bleeding or changes in bowel habits or abnormal CT findings in even patients in their 30s need to be taken seriously and checked with a colonoscopy.”

Jess’ story is a powerful reminder that the treatments keeping her going today and the hope she’s holding onto for tomorrow exist because of decades of clinical research and the courage of patients who came before her, said Brittany Lansford, CCRC, manager of the solid tumors portfolio in the UF Health Cancer Institute’s Clinical Research Office.

“From advanced imaging that caught her cancer earlier than it otherwise would have been, to complex chemotherapy regimens, radiation techniques and innovative approaches like hepatic infusion pumps, none of these options appeared overnight,” Lansford said. “They are the result of clinical trials that tested new ideas, refined old ones and slowly turned ‘experimental’ into ‘standard of care.’ For patients like Jess, research is not abstract or theoretical. It’s measured in time. Time to watch her daughter grow, time to feel like herself on good days, time to hope.”

Jess’ resilience underscores a truth at the heart of World Cancer Day: Progress against cancer happens because science advances hand in hand with patient bravery, turning hope into something tangible for anyone who may face cancer in the future.

“Jess’ determination to research clinical trials and emerging technologies reflects why ongoing clinical research matters so deeply in advanced cancer,” Lansford said. “Trials are how we move medicine forward, toward better quality of life, fewer side effects and, ultimately, cures.”

A village of support

Through it all, a supportive community has rallied around Jess, though she worries about the toll of ongoing illness.

“Long term, asking for help feels different,” she said. “I worry as time goes on about the tax on my loved ones. It’s something to grapple with.”

Friends and family provide a meal train, and someone even sent a fun selection of frozen pizzas from Chicago. Freezable soups have been particularly helpful during chemo weeks. Friends have reached out with offers to pick up things from Sam’s Club. Some have offered help with household chores or volunteered to take her toddler on playdates, easing the load on her husband and her caregiver as well.

“Around the holidays, there were a few people who were like, ‘Hey, I got you a few gifts for your daughter,’” Jess said. “That was really nice because when people have medical bills taking up a lot of their finances, little things like making sure their kid’s Christmas is special was so sweet and meaningful.”

Just reaching out, though, can make all the difference.

“For people who have loved ones with cancer, even if you don’t know what to say, just shoot them a message and say, ‘I don’t know what to say, but I’m thinking about you and I love you,’” Jess said. “Even just that little bit can light up someone’s day. Even if they don’t feel good and they don’t respond, it’ll make a big difference.”

For friends undergoing long-term cancer treatment, Jess suggests restocking their “chemo bags” with helpful items like skin ointments, ginger candies for nausea, and toothbrushes. She also stresses the importance of finding supportive friends who’ve experienced cancer firsthand.

“Find someone else who has cancer or has been through cancer who you can openly vent with,” she said.

Handing off the baton

After undergoing treatment — like Jess, also at UF — Danny Boy’s cancer came back last year. Their vet came to their house, allowing them to have a sweet goodbye in the backyard.

“He beat it once, so he’s still inspiring me too,” Jess said.

Recently, her family adopted a snuggly red puppy aptly named Penny, also an Irish terrier.

As for Jess, as for life, the ache and the joy are always two sides of one coin.

“When we first brought her to the house as a puppy, she went to the spot where we said goodbye to Danny,” Jess said. “She stood there, and she put her little face into the breeze like he used to, and she just felt the breeze. It was this moment, like the baton was being handed off. I feel like he’s with us through her.”