Jessica Gilbert
When Anderson resident Jessica Gilbert was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, part of her treatment included something she’d never given much thought to before: donated blood. During her fight, Jessica received three blood transfusions from Hoxworth donors, helping her recover and continue her journey toward healing. Her story is a powerful reminder that every local donation saves a neighbor, a mother, a friend, someone like Jessica.
Jessica Gilbert grew in in the Clifton area and is Cincinnati through-and-through. She moved to California for a few years and met her husband, Harry there. But they chose to raise their family back here in Cincinnati. Now living in Anderson, Jessica and her husband have two kids.
In early 2025, the family of four was planning a trip to Disney World when Jessica thought she had a sinus infection. She went to the doctor and tested negative for COVID, Flu and RSV. They gave her antibiotics to treat an infection and drew blood to do further testing. After a couple of days, Jessica got a call from her doctor telling her to go to the emergency room for more testing. A CT scan confirmed what Jessica’s doctor feared: Jessica had Stage III Ovarian Cancer.
Instead of traveling to Disney, Jessica was now planning cancer treatment. She got a port installed for her chemotherapy and started fighting this disease that took her by surprise around the same time she was supposed to be relishing in the Florida sun and making memories with her family.
“It happened very fast,” Jessica remembers, “The CT scan is what found the cancer, but I did have MRIs done as well. After the antibiotics it was off to the races with doctors’ appointments and starting chemo.”
Jessica is forever grateful to her doctor at UC Health, Dr. Caroline Billingsley, a gynecologist-oncologist who walked her through this scary and unpredictable time.
Jessica’s treatment included three rounds of chemotherapy, a full hysterectomy, Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) where warm chemo is circulated through your abdomen to kill remaining cancer cells, and three blood transfusions from Hoxworth blood donors. Her blood transfusions came during a time when she was in the ICU for six days.
Jessica then took a brief break from cancer treatment and went on a trip to Dollywood with her family. While it wasn’t the Disney trip they had planned for, Jessica says it was still a very nice break from what had now become her new normal of fighting cancer.
After a few weeks, Jessica had three more rounds of chemotherapy. While receiving these infusions of cancer drugs, Jessica would often talk to the other cancer patients.
“I ask other survivors what are your tips and tricks. That stuff maters. Stories make a big difference and can change someone’s life, and that’s why I wanted to share my story.”
Jessica says you must be your own advocate. If something feels off or you think you could be sick, go to the doctor and seek out the answers you need. She says in her situation, her symptoms could have been explained by other things. She was bloated and thought it was just overeating around the holiday season. Another sign of ovarian cancer is UTI like symptoms. In addition, Jessica had always been healthy and never thought she would be diagnosed with cancer.
The odds of surviving five years or longer with ovarian cancer is just over 50%. But Jessica is certain she will defy all odds and beat this disease.
“I keep telling myself you are stronger than you know and it’s very true. Just keep fighting!
Right now Jessica is taking a maintenance drug as part of her continued treatment. She is also trying to get her white blood count higher so that she can travel again. She still has hopes of making it to Disney with her family when it’s safe for her to do so.
She started working part time in September but says it’s a lot to juggle between being a mom, working, going to doctors’ appointments and taking care of herself.
Her advice to others going through a tough situation is to try to stay positive, stay in the moment, spend time outdoors (especially on sunny days!) and take it one step at a time.
“It’s going to be overbearing at times. But take it one minute, one day at a time.”
You can help local patients like Jessica. Schedule your donation with Hoxworth today and save local lives at local hospitals.