When Jill Martin was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer, she expected the months of chemotherapy treatments, the six surgeries, even the endless hours of cold capping in an attempt to preserve some of her hair.
But the Today contributor hadn’t anticipated that wrestling with suicidal ideations would be a part of her cancer journey.
Prescribed two medications meant to reduce her risk of cancer recurrence, she was told potential side effects would include joint pain and fatigue.
Instead, “the dosage was not right for me and it caused me to have suicidal thoughts,” the 48-year-old told E! News in an exclusive interview. Feeling hopeless and as if life wasn’t worth living, “I had the wherewithal to be able to call my doctors and say, ‘Something’s not right,'” she continued, revealing she contacted her oncologist Dr. Eric Winer after Googling a specific suicide method and discovering the 988 suicide crisis line. “But not everybody has the strength like that.”
Winer, director of the Yale Cancer Center adjusted her dosage, leaving her feeling more like herself and determined to help others.