Celebrating Jill Cohen, Dancing With Cancer Blogger

Jill Cohen, photographed by Ben Heath for the 2015 Story Half Told campaign

We are sorry to share that “Dancing With Cancer” blogger Jill Cohen died this past Thursday, August 11, 2016. Jill lived for a remarkable 14 years with metastatic breast cancer. She was 56 years old.

“Jill’s last dance with cancer occurred this morning at 11:18 today at hospice at Swedish at Cherry Hill in Seattle,” wrote her husband, Rik, in a Facebook post. “She was not in any pain. Susan her sister and I were there holding her hands as she breathed her last breaths. She lived life to the fullest, and wanted no “pity party” so do not mourn her death but celebrate her life by living and loving each other. Thank you to all for the hugs, love and reachouts from around the globe. Jill and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

Funeral services are set for Sunday at 3PM at Congregation Beth Shalom at 6800 35th Avenue NE in Seattle’s Wedgwood neighborhood. In honor of Jill’s last request purple is the color of the day. 

“I know many women don’t live as long as I have with mets (12 years as of August 2014),” Jill said  in this post. ” I think I provide hope to many even though I have mets to multiple bones, liver and brain, long-lasting neuropathy and lymphedema as well as the usual fatigue etc. associated with years of treatment.”

Jill most certainly did provide her fellow patients with hope. She had so many talents and interests: music, cooking, writing, dogs and of course dancing. Although cancer was part of her reality, Jill was so much more than a cancer patient. She was always on the go. I was amazed in 2014, when Jill went on a tour of Bulgaria with her folk choir, Dunava. I really enjoyed Jill’s accounts of the trip: She was a keen observer with a fine eye for small details. “New shops, cafes, and restaurants abound,” she wrote of her excursion to Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria. “Except for the public toilets, where a squat toilet and Western-style toilet sit privately side by side. To use either one, you have to ‘pay’ the lady outside 50 stotinki, which regretfully doesn’t make the toilets any cleaner.”

Jill was very proud of her heritage–she gave her readers a wonderful glimpse into her faith and its traditions. In 2010, she wrote about celebrating the Jewish new year. “I was honored with the Kohen aliyah to the Torah,” she wrote. “Every time I am asked to read this blessing, I think of my father. For Dad, being a Kohen, a descendant of the ancient Jewish priests, was a special responsibility and privilege. . . I remember the first time I was offered the Kohen aliyah, at summer camp when I was about 15. I knew about it a few days in advance and had to call home long distance — collect! — from the pay phone to be sure I knew my full Hebrew name: Yachna Maryam bat Shimon Shir haKohen u’Masha Leah. Dad was startled but happy to oblige.”

Although Jill provided in-depth descriptions of all that was happening with her treatment, these accounts were straight forward–no drama, no despair, just the facts. Or, as Rik said, no pity party.

Jill was active with many cancer groups–a great spokesperson for those living with Stage IV breast cancer. She participated in Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s (LBBC) Hear My Voice patient advocacy program and shared her story here. She was one of five women with mets profiled as part of  A Story Half Told,  a national partnership with advocates, patients and healthcare professionals that aims to elevate public understanding of metastatic breast cancer.

Jill said that her philosophy was Dum vivimus, vivamus which means while we live, let us live. “Life is precious,” Jill said. “In a very real sense, we all have the same amount of time — today.”

May her memory be for a blessing.

 

–Katherine O’Brien, August 2016