Episode 12: Mortality Is Messy: Jennifer Dunn

6 Months or Less

After experiencing troubling symptoms for years, Jennifer Dunn refused to leave the emergency room until she had a CT scan. The scan and a subsequent biopsy revealed terminal colon cancer. Jen, a 41-year-old mom, shares how she started to think of her experience with cancer in trimesters. She would spend her first year pursuing aggressive treatment. Her second year, which is this year, would be all about her bucket list. Her third year would likely be hospice. Little did she know that in her second year there would be a global pandemic, forcing her to shred her bucket list. We’ll hear how she’s coped with having to give up her dreams and plans, and how she explains all of this to her young daughter.

A big thanks to Dr. Michael Fratkin at Resolution Care for connecting me with Jen. She describes Dr. Fratkin and his team as “essential and comforting guides at each new scary step” of her experience.

Music: “Hardwood Lullaby”, “Blue Jay”, and “These Times” by Blue Dot Sessions, “Negentropy” by Chad Crouch, and “Winter Walk” by Podington Bear