Dr. Jenn Simmons became a breast cancer surgeon after a lifelong connection to the disease, then shifted to functional and integrative medicine when conventional care fell short during her own illness. She wrote The Smart Woman's Guide to Breast Cancer and founded Real Health, MD and Perfection Imaging to change how breast cancer is diagnosed and prevented.
Chapters
I don't remember a time in my life where breast cancer wasn't part of it. At 16, I watched my first cousin, singer songwriter Linda Creed, best known for her mega hit the Greatest Love of All, lose her life to breast cancer. From that moment, breast cancer became my mission. For years, I fulfilled that mission as one of Philadelphia's top breast cancer surgeons, helping thousands of women through their cancer journey. But when I became a patient myself, I saw firsthand the shortcomings of conventional medicine. I knew there had to be a better way, not just for me, but for every woman who depended on me. I went on a journey to find something more. And I found it in functional medicine. Functional medicine helped me to heal and to discover my true purpose. My calling was never to help thousands. It was to help millions. To forever change how we diagnose, how we treat, and how we screen for breast cancer. So I left the operating room and began a new path in functional medicine and integrative oncology. I wrote my best selling book, the Smart Woman's Guide to Breast Cancer and created Real Health, MD and Perfection Imaging, where prevention, empowerment, patient safety and healing come first. Because women deserve more than survival. They deserve vitality, confidence, autonomy, and freedom. I'm honored to stand amongst my brilliant colleagues here today, humbled by the acknowledgement and privileged to lead a new era in breast health and breast cancer screening for every woman everywhere.
