Mighty Millie Loves Move for Jenn
Four years ago, my brave and beautiful friend, Jenn Andrews, underwent a lifesaving treatment to beat sarcoma— an amputation.
She was getting a pedicure one day when the pedicurist found a small nodule on her foot. She had it checked out only to discover the unimaginable news— it was cancer.
As a young and active wife, mother of two, she faced this cancer diagnosis with such boldness and said, “I’ll do whatever I have to do for it to be gone forever. I have life left to live.”
The day before her amputation, she spoke live on FB and asked the world to get outside and #movebecauseyoucan. I’ll never forget this as long as I live because it was the first time I had really heard about sarcoma and she was one of the first people I had ever witnessed to speak so openly about cancer and treatment. And, I watched in admiration at her strength and vulnerability as she took a horrific situation and gave it her everything with beauty and bravery. I felt so connected to Jenn and stood in awe of her fight.
Millie and I (Jack & Nick too) have spent every March 12th outside, moving because we can. Inspired by Jenn. Inspired by joy. Inspired by the fullness of life. Small moments, big love. I’ll never forget rushing home from school three years ago today to hear how my friend’s surgery went and to get outside with Millie to move. We spent the afternoon walking around town and playing at our favorite park.
Flash forward three years, and the most unthinkable news arrived at our door. Sarcoma found its way to my home. To my daughter. And the lifesaving treatment for Millie was no longer working, and curing this horrific disease was no longer thought possible. It’s excruciating to even try and type these words.
Jenn and her foundation, Move for Jenn Foundation, immediately grabbed our hands and walked alongside us and our medical team to find more treatment options for Millie. Jenn has understood this fight in ways that most cannot. She and her team spent days on the phone calling hospitals around the country, exploring trials, vetting treatment options for us to pour through. Move for Jenn even funded the remaining $25,000 needed for a new clinical trial to get off the ground in April 2021 for Millie to be part of. Her support and guidance played such a huge role in our fight with relapse and gave us hope when no one else could.
In honor of our Millie, the Move for Jenn Foundation has created the Mighty Millie Advocacy Program that funds this kind of support for sarcoma families. I can honestly say, firsthand, this kind of advocacy and support is so unbelievably necessary in pediatric oncology and we are so HONORED to be part of advocating for better support, research, treatment options, and lifestyles for families.
Together, forever, we fight childhood cancer. All in honor of our Mighty Millie.
