In March 2020 I received a call from my gynecologist on the biopsy report that came back showing that I had endometrial cancer in my uterus. At that moment, I went totally numb and speechless. Thoughts went through my head, was I going to be okay, am I going to see my kids get married, and would I become a grandmother. After gathering myself, I began to ask the doctor questions, was I going to be alright. She explained to me that it was in the very beginning stages, I would need to get a total hysterectomy and would not need treatment since the cancer was encapsulated in the uterus. My husband and I both decided that Penn Medicine was the best place for me. Immediately, we went to work to find a surgeon to perform the procedure. My husband handed me the tablet, telling me to thoroughly read the doctor bios and pick the one I felt most comfortable with.
When I came across Dr. Simpkins, I knew that she was the one. Reading her bio and reviews of what past patients wrote about her was incredible. Each review was better than the previous one. Quickly, I was able to get an appointment with her even though it was in the beginning of COVID. My surgery was scheduled for May 6th, 2020 and that is where my journey began.
The day of the surgery finally came, I was scared out of my mind. I was going from never having a major surgery to having a surgery that lasted 8 hours and 45 minutes. Dr. Simpkin's successfully did the laparoscopic total hysterectomy. The cancer was removed and I was cancer free, not knowing at the time that my next 5 months was going to be life changing for me. The next day, Dr. Simpkins came to see me, explaining why the operation took longer than expected. She found cancer cells floating in my left fallopian tube and a 4mm piece sitting on my right ovary. She further explained that she took all of the lymph nodes out of my abdominal area. The cancer was fully out of my body, but I still would need further treatment. This was treatment for the possibility of cells that cannot be seen with the naked eye. I was told by Dr. Simpkins that the treatment was going to be challenging, but she would be there with me at every step. For the next eight weeks, I was sent home to recover and get my strength back, so I could proceed to the next stage, immediately changing my diet and starting a daily exercise program.
The walks that I took by myself and with my son helped me the most. During these walks, I had many conversations with God as to what habits that I was going to change and most importantly, getting a second chance on life. Walking with my son Alex helped me prepare me for the battle that I was going to face. He helped me stay positive, pushing me to not give up, which was the key to getting through the treatment. Treatments began in June 2020 and ended October 7th, 2020. They were not easy as there were bone and muscle aches, fatigue, and brain fog from the chemotherapy. My treatments were every three weeks and I would recover after the first week of a treatment. In the middle of three treatments, I had sessions of pin pointed radiation, adding to my fatigue. The treatments finally came to an end and I was able to ring the bell. I could not have asked for better doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners. They collectively kept me on track and most of all, made me feel safe.
One question that is always asked is yes, I lost all my hair on my head, body, and face. You do not realize how much eyebrows and eyelashes define you as you. The one negative aspect that was turned into a positive, later, is that you really learn to connect with the person inside yourself. You learn to appreciate the way God made you and not worry about every wrinkle and imperfection that you have. Your focus on what kind of person you are and how you can improve yourself. The good news is that I am cancer free and on October 7th it will be 2 years from overcoming my misfortune. Being given a second chance gave me the opportunity to help combat this disease.
Overtime I have learned that Endometrial Cancer is the least funded of all cancers effecting women. There is a misconception that it is an older women's cancer. More and more women at younger ages are getting this type of cancer and this is why I have told my story. Being diagnosed at the age of 54 proves that this is not an older woman's disease.
Dr. Simpkins is my angel from above, she saved my life. Please help me help Dr. Simpkins and The Gynecologic Oncology Team continue their research. With their goal of eliminating and putting an end to Endometrial Cancer, your donations will be contributing to their research, thus helping friends, mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts.

Thank you for reading my story and please help in the fight against this disease.

-Jaqueline Criswell

Endometrial cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive organs and yet, there is still so much left to learn about how to prevent and treat this disease. Despite its prevalence and its high rate of curability, research around endometrial cancer continues to lag behind that of other cancers due to lack of funding.

With the proper investment of time and resources, Penn Medicine can make strides towards decreasing--and eventually curing all--endometrial cancers. Providing comprehensive health care for women of all ages and stages of life is important. We are also focused on personalized, targeted, and innovative approaches for treating our patients. Your support can make a difference!

The Jacqueline and Alan Criswell Endometrial Cancer Research Fund at Penn Medicine supports novel translational research that fuels the discovery of new treatments in the laboratory that will ultimately offer better treatment options for patients in the clinic.

In order to discover new and improved treatment methods, Penn Medicine is developing cutting-edge testing models. These "avatars" use tumor tissue to develop patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDX), that can then be used to test novel combination therapies for endometrial cancer. This system allows Penn researchers and clinicians to identify transformational new treatments to offer to their patients. This system has been hugely successful for other gynecologic cancers, and our goal is to see the same progress for endometrial cancer.