Miami alum Jenna Pilipovich talks cancer and how she never lost sight of having a bright future. Now in law school, Jenna shares with us why cancer made her the person that she is today. 

“I don’t like to lose, I like to win,” says Miami Alum, Jenna Pilipovich.

Jenna was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the young age of 14. Being a winner took on an entirely new meaning in her life after her diagnosis. Osteosarcoma is a cancerous bone tumor that is most common in children and young adults.

“When I first found the bump under my knee, it freaked me out. It started to get bigger and I would see stars whenever I touched it,” Jenna said. “It got so big the girls on my volleyball team would take pictures of it after practice.”

Misdiagnosed for 10 months by a doctor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Jenna’s only advice was to get the bump removed if she felt it was necessary. Wanting to rid her body of the pain for good, her family scheduled Jenna’s surgery for December 19^th, 2006. Little did they know, the days following the procedure would flip her world upside down.  

“I remember the day after my surgery, I was watching a movie with a friend, it was a horrible movie starring the Duff twins,” Jenna said. “After my friend left, my parents sat me down and told me that what had been removed was actually a malignant tumor.”

For Jenna, the days after included an outbreak of emotions and scary thoughts about what lie ahead.

“I’m from Loveland, Ohio, and I remember picturing the next headline for our local newspaper saying something like ‘Girl from Loveland Dies of Cancer’,” Jenna said.

Jenna and her family went in on December 21^st and 22^nd for testing. Her results came back with good news; the tumor hadn’t spread.”

“The first thing I thought of when I heard my sister had cancer was that she was going to die,” said Jenna’s younger brother, Michael Pilipovich. “I associated cancer with death and dismissed all hope from the beginning.”

On January 2^nd, Jenna started Chemotherapy, and exactly two weeks to the hour her hair started to thin.  It wasn’t long before she was pulling out clumps of hair in the shower.

 “One day, I came crying to my mom and told her I wanted to just get rid of it,” Jenna said.

“I remember waking up to Jenna crying because her hair was falling out faster,” Michael said. “I knew what was happening, but I knew that she wasn’t going to let this bring her down.”

She had two guy friends come over who also shaved their heads. Her mom ordered a pizza and they made it a whole affair.

“I think losing my hair was worse than finding out that I had cancer because it made everything so real, “ Jenna remarked. “It gave me a little bit of control, shaving off my hair.”

For a month after she lost her hair, Jenna couldn’t stand to look at herself in the mirror. For the first three months of treatment, it still came as a shock to her.

“Once it became the new normal for me, I accepted it,” Jenna said. “We were in the hospital for four days, and then we’d come home for three days, and then I’d get a week off.”

This was Jenna’s life for the next 10 months. She was all about making this experience a positive one. She decorated her room at the hospital with her own personal sheets and signs that her friends made were hung on the walls. “It wasn’t just a hospital room, it was my room,” Jenna said.

Jenna had a lot of support from her friends and family. Her mom and dad dedicated all of their time to researching the best doctors and treatments in the area. They even reached out to Misty May, a professional volleyball player, who spent the time meeting Jenna at the AVP Cincinnati Volleyball Tour.

Jenna spent 6 weeks in chemo, underwent a 13-hour reconstructive surgery, and then endured 5 more months of painful treatment to ensure that her cancer would not return.

Jenna, starting to tear up as she recounts this part of her journey, tells me about the surprise that awaited her at the front of the hospital after her last treatment.

On her last treatment, her parents told her to bring a change of clothes for after when they would go out to get ice cream and celebrate. Instead of exiting the building from the side door like usual, they headed towards the front door.

“After the machine beeped for the last time, I felt a sense of relief,” said Jenna. “When I walked downstairs, all my best friends and family were waiting for me in front of a big limo!”

The amount of encouragement and support that Jenna received throughout her journey really helped turn her diagnosis into something positive.

“The amount of love that you feel is so unbelievable, the amount of phone calls and Facebook posts that you receive are infinite,” said Junior Matt Arendas, also a cancer survivor at Miami University.

Appearance is such an important thing in society today. For a young adult going through chemotherapy, the alterations to your body aren’t positive. For Jenna, Matt, and many other cancer survivors, the encouragement that you receive really helps you keep the confidence that you need to stay strong and continue to fight.

“Believe it or not, cancer was an incredible experience,” said Matt. “I wish everyone could experience the benefits of cancer without having to experience the side effects.”

Hearing how much cancer changed their lives for the better really made me think differently about the disease. Having had the opportunity to interview two cancer survivors, and experience it on a personal level when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, I have learned more than I ever thought I would.

“The biggest thing that I learned was that you have no idea what is going on with people,” said Jenna. “Everyone has a story. You never know what people are going through, so it’s not fair to judge people by their appearance or by their attitude.”

Cancer has changed the lives of so many people. In some instances it can tear a family apart, but in Jenna’s case, it made her family stronger.

“I never have a bad hair day anymore,” Jenna says. “I no longer care about how my hair looks. It’s just hair.”