Jaclyn Dillon: Giving Others the Emotional Support She Was Missing

— By Megan Brown, ABCD Marketing & Communications Support, and Edited by Gina Rich

April 22, 2025

Soon after turning 40 in December of 2019, Jaclyn Dillon had her first mammogram and it was all clear. Eight months later, she was at home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with her young daughter, who was celebrating her third birthday. “She knocked her head back on my breasts and I said, oh that felt weird. And there was a lump there,” remembers Jaclyn.

It turned out to be breast cancer – Stage 1B invasive ductal carcinoma – a diagnosis that took her by surprise.  A star soccer player in college, Jaclyn had always been active and healthy and still worked out every day. “I didn’t want to be going to radiation treatments, so I chose mastectomy,” she says. After weighing her options, Jaclyn decided to undergo a bilateral mastectomy with direct-to-implant reconstruction. The surgery was lengthy: eight hours in total. And unfortunately, once the pathology of her tumor was evaluated, Jaclyn learned she would also need four rounds of chemotherapy.

Her husband was there during the treatments, which Jaclyn describes as a rough couple of months. But because of COVID-19 restrictions, Jaclyn’s husband could not attend any of her doctor’s appointments or be there after her surgery. “My breast cancer was upsetting for my husband. You think to yourself, you don’t want to hurt the people around you, even though you’re the one going through it,” she says. She also had a young daughter to think about. “I had to be a mom too, which was kind of like a bright light at a dark time.”

The Value of Peer Support

While her husband was extremely supportive and took over most of the childcare and household duties, Jaclyn wished she could talk to someone who had been through breast cancer. “Having somebody to talk to and be able to release your emotions, I couldn’t do that,” she says.

This realization fueled Jaclyn’s desire to give others what she didn’t have. “After everything happened, my friend linked me up with her friend who also had breast cancer and I ended up mentoring her,” Jaclyn says. “I found it very valuable because we became really close, and that’s when I started thinking this is what I want to do.” She wanted to be the person that someone impacted by breast cancer could lean on and candidly talk with about their feelings.

Finding ABCD

Jaclyn started looking online for organizations that would enable her to provide emotional support to others – and that’s how she found ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis. She completed ABCD’s New Mentor Training in September 2023 and has been matched with 5 Participants so far. “It’s become a passion of mine. I really love being an ABCD Mentor,” she says.

Reflecting on her matches, Jaclyn has noticed that after only the first few conversations, everyone expresses gratitude to have somebody to talk with who understands their experience. “I’m still very close with all of them and I check in randomly. I even had the good friend that I mentored before I connected with ABCD drop off my mastectomy pillow and a couple other items to one of my ABCD Participants who lived near her,” Jaclyn says. Seeing Participants continue to use these items during their recovery is very meaningful to her.

A Shift in Perspective

Jaclyn’s experience – not only as a patient, but also as an ABCD Mentor providing emotional support to others – shifted her perspective in a meaningful way. “I am not taking my life for granted anymore,” she says.

She now wants to do everything she knows she is capable of accomplishing. Her advice? “Life isn’t going to stop for you. It’s hard to stay positive; even after treatment it’s hard to stay positive, but you’ve got to start being grateful for the things in your life,” she says.

Each day before bed, Jaclyn writes down at least one thing she’s grateful for – and that small spark of daily positivity has made a big difference. “At the end of the year, you can look at all the things you wrote down and think, wow, I have a good life,” she says.

Jaclyn was diagnosed in 2020 with Stage 1B ER+ PR+ HER2- invasive ductal carcinoma. She had a bilateral mastectomy with direct-to-implant reconstruction, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy medications (Tamoxifen and Zoladex).