Jenna Auber’s Story

How has breast cancer affected your life?

Jenna Auber is almost 14 years out from her breast cancer diagnosis.

Even after all that time, answering that question still brings emotion to the surface.

“Fourteen years is a blessing and a gift,” Jenna says.

Time has brought healing. The physical pain is gone, but Jenna still carries the scars. In day-to-day life, it can be easy to put the experience in the past, to think about it from a logical place instead of feeling it fully.

That is part of why Runway means so much to her.

“Runway always lets me actually feel it,” she says.

For Jenna, Runway creates space for gratitude, grief, survivorship, memory, and community to exist together.

 

How did genetic testing change your story?

Jenna’s family history made genetic testing especially important.

Her mother was a breast cancer survivor. Several years later, her mother’s sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. That led Jenna and her family to undergo genetic testing, and Jenna learned that she carried the breast cancer gene defect.

At the time, Jenna was young, healthy, busy, working overnights, breastfeeding, and raising two little boys.

“Nobody has time to be sick,” she says.

But she made it a priority to get tested and begin early screening.

That decision changed everything.

At 36, Jenna went in for her first mammogram. At first, she was sent away because she was breastfeeding, but her doctor was diligent and insisted she needed the screening. After mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies, and months of follow-up, Jenna was diagnosed with breast cancer on her birthday.

Her almost two-year-old son was sitting on her lap when she received the news.

Jenna remembers her doctor being direct but reassuring.

“He said, ‘I’m really glad we did this because we found it and we can make a plan,’” Jenna says.

Without that screening, Jenna believes her story could have looked very different. Her cancer was hormone fed, and she was not done having children. Had it gone undetected, she may have been pregnant again with a much more serious prognosis.

“I feel lucky,” Jenna says. “I always say my aunt is my guardian angel. Her diagnosis saved my butt.”

 

How has cancer affected your family?

Jenna’s story is also shaped by deep family loss.

Her brother died of prostate cancer at 45, just 16 days after he was diagnosed. His son was only seven years old. Jenna later lost her aunt to ovarian cancer and her uncle to pancreatic cancer, all cancers connected to the same gene defect.

Because of that, Jenna feels strongly about reminding people that genetic risk does not only matter for women.

“I like to tell anybody that will listen to pay attention to the boys and men in their life too,” she says.

Jenna wishes her brother had the same chance at early screening and prevention that she did.

“He didn’t have the early screening and the second chance that I got,” she says.

 

What does survivorship feel like now?

Almost 14 years later, Jenna is deeply grateful to be here, but survivorship still carries fear, grief, and complicated emotions.

“The anxiety kind of stays with you,” she says.

Over time, it has gotten better, but it has not disappeared.

Jenna remembers keeping her hair short after treatment, partly because she was afraid that if she tried to grow it back, the cancer would return. Then, when her youngest son was around six years old, he asked her to grow her hair again.

His little voice helped her put the fear aside.

Years later, a haircut unexpectedly brought up five years of anger that Jenna had been holding inside.

“I was so busy trying to just cherish every day that I felt too guilty to feel angry,” she says.

That moment helped her understand that grief and anger were also part of the process.

Jenna has also faced follow-up scares over the years, including headaches and vision changes that led to brain scans every three months for a period of time. Those moments were frightening, but they also reminded her how deeply her community shows up.

“The people that show up to support you never cease to just blow my mind,” Jenna says.

What does it mean to walk with your children?

Jenna walked the Runway by herself for several years before her sons joined her in 2018, the same year her brother died.

At the time, her boys were scared, especially her younger son. During rehearsal, he was in tears and unsure he could do it. Jenna reminded him that everyone in the room had been touched by breast cancer in some way, and that he did not have to walk if he was not ready.

He did it.

For Jenna, holding her children’s hands and watching their bravery was unforgettable.

“I truly thought nothing can top this,” she says.

After that year, Jenna thought she was retired from the Runway. But when Olivia reached out about the 20th Anniversary Show, the invitation took her breath away.

Her older son read the email and immediately understood.

“It’s a special night, Mom,” he told her. “We will find a way. We will make it work.”

This year, Jenna’s sons will return to the stage with her. Tristan will also join them, walking as his father’s living legacy.

“It’s going to be very powerful,” Jenna says.

 

What advice would you give someone newly diagnosed?

Jenna wants newly diagnosed people to know that they do not have to go through it alone.

Treatment can feel lonely. So can the time after treatment, when everyone else may think the hard part is over.

Jenna’s advice is to reach out to people who have been impacted by breast cancer in a similar way. Let them support you. Let them understand the parts of the experience that may be hard for others to see.

“Not go it alone,” she says. “Let them be there with you and for you.”

She knows many people are used to doing everything themselves. Asking for help can be hard, but Jenna believes it matters.

“We all need help, and it’s out there,” she says. “Let it be there for you.”

Runway will be there on October 30th. We can’t wait.