Welcome Jenna Cottrell to 13 WHAM Sports! | WHAM
“Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” Emory Austin
Good Day!!! Oh the truth in Emory’s statement…. how I wish it wasn’t so! But it is true – we have natural “highs” and “lows” and some days there isn’t a song in our heart. So what do we do on those days? How do we embrace life and be positive on the days when the “spark” just isn’t there? We do just as Emory suggests – we “sing anyway.” And we sing loud enough to wake up that spark.
One of the things cognitive therapy reveals is that when we consistently “act as if” we “become.” Sometimes we have to force a behavior in order to do it consistently enough to internalize it. On our “down days” it is more important than ever to en-gage in behaviors that fight the negativity in our minds and the sadness in our souls.
You don’t have to accept a mediocre day. You don’t have to accept a mediocre life.
In fact, I en-courage you to accept nothing but the best. Sure, you will have days that start out “low.” Fight back. Sing. In any given moment you have the power to change your day. You have undoubtedly heard the quote “Fake it until you make it.” On those “low” days, shout out your affirmations. Write them over and over. Even if they don’t feel sincere, keep say-ing them. Our words have power, and they have the power to transform the mediocre into the mag-nificent.
Your Turn:
Draw the rooms of your life like an architect would draw a floor plan.
In each “room” write down what potential you have and how you might grow.
Your Affirmation:
I have the power to transform the mediocre into the magnificent.
I learn their names right off the bat. Valerie and Ben are parents to twins Garrett and Alissa, both 31, as well as a younger daughter Jenna, who is 28.
We sit around the dining table together, sun streaming in from the deck, laughter ringing gaily throughout the room. You’d never know what they’ve grappled with, struggled through as a family – unless you asked.
It seems like everyone you meet today either knows someone battling cancer, is a survivor themselves, or has lost a loved one from what the American Cancer Society estimated (back in 2015) would claim the lives of about 1,600 people daily.
If you’re wondering about the numbers, it equates to approximately 590,000 deaths due to
cancer. In one year. Garrett was 16 when he was diagnosed with ALL – Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. The doctors at Albany Med offered him two options. He chose the second one – which would be harder and take longer – but would also allow the medical community to study the disease, its treatment, and his recovery.
“I knew it would be better if we could bring more education and awareness to this type of cancer,” Garrett tells me. “I felt it was the least I could do – help the next person suffering from it.” Alissa, his twin sister, says she felt phantom pains all the time. “Whenever mom and dad brought Garrett to the hospital for a procedure, the wait was unbearable.
I panicked. It felt as if I was going through it with him. I’d call dad to ask if my brother
had this or that done to him that day. It was like I always knew.” There was guilt, too.
“I couldn’t understand why Garrett was enduring this hell while I was healthy.
It was horrible. I cried a lot, felt defenseless and alone.
What if the other half – the better half of me died? I couldn’t imagine life without him.”
Garrett knew his sister felt helpless. “I needed Alissa to understand this wasn’t her fault. We sat down one day, talking for a long time. I hugged her and said she was going to have to be strong and healthy for both of us.”
Chemo, shots, IV drips, 25 different pills every Friday – it sure seemed like it would never end. It was tough for the family to carry on with normal activities, but they coped, doing the best they could under the circumstances. Thankfully, Garrett saw another birthday, then another, and yet another – growing stronger with each one. Doctors still keep a close eye on him, but cancer moves further away from his life every day.
Jenna talks softly, remembering a momentous day during December 2016. It was time to come off of her parent’s health insurance. “I was crying like a baby, complaining about how much it was going to cost. Man, I was young – I didn’t want to think about spending my hard-earned money on things like that.”
She had a long conversation with her dad, deciding it was the smart, grown-up thing to do. Securing medical coverage would help her worry less over the ‘what ifs’ in life.
Thank goodness she made that decision.
In January 2017 she was attending a press conference for her job as a sports anchor for ABC/Fox. By then, she was living and working in the Rochester area. She wasn’t feeling well and recalls being drenched in sweat. Coworkers asked if she was okay and Jenna wasn’t able to shrug it off. Her temperature was 104.
At the hospital, she was diagnosed with stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Her team of doctors would be from The Wilmot Cancer Institute at the University of Rochester Medical Center. My 26th birthday didn’t start the way I expected. Instead of celebrations and cake I was met with my next challenge.
On January 25th 2017, I was diagnosed with Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma- Stage III B.
I know there will be a long road ahead, with chemo treatments and intense side effects and even the possibility that I lose my hair. But I want you to know that I will not lose hope.
I have an incredible team of doctors and even more than that, I have you all, an amazing support system of friends and family. So yes, 26 didn’t start out the way I thought, but I want everyone to know I plan on making this my best year yet. I am confident but more importantly, I feel loved…truly the best blessing of all.
Thank you for all the kindness and positivity. I know in my heart we’ll get through this together. The family was in disbelief. How could this have happened again? How would they ever get through the journey of another child suffering from this terrible disease?
“Friends and family rallied around us both times,” Jenna tells me. “They brought food, lent an ear, and offered a helping hand. We were never alone.” At first, Jenna says she
was angry with the news, grappling with the questions of “Why me? Why our family?
Why a second time? Why Anyone?”
She’d shared a bedroom with Alissa over the years, the sisters were very close, even after she’d moved away. “It was so hard for me to watch,” Alissa says, tears brimming from her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. “Once again – I was healthy and a sibling wasn’t. Why?”
It was terrifying for Garrett as well. “I felt terrible, all-consuming guilt. Memories of my own personal journey with cancer came flooding back – I didn’t want my younger sister to suffer any of what I’d gone through. I was her big brother, yet there was nothing I could do to spare her from what I knew was ahead.”
Jenna’s journey was a tough one as well. Some days were good, others were bad. 12 rounds of treatment came wrapped up in a lot of different emotions, sickness, depression, hope. It’s an experience she wouldn’t wish on anyone. “I learned how tough I am though,” she tells me, “how strong my family is, how supportive my friends are. Cancer taught me more about the human spirit than any other experience could have.”
Over the last two hours, I feel as if I’ve opened a wound that’s only just scabbed over.
I search five sets of eyes and see raw emotion. When they speak their mouths quiver.
The love they have for one another is evident and very powerful.
“It’s important to talk about cancer,” one of them tells me. In the beginning, during and
in the aftermath. “Cancer changes your perspective on life,” another one says, wiping tears from her face with the back of her hand. “Look,” Garrett pipes in. “You can have a bad day – you just can’t live there.”
Valerie and Ben hold hands and look at each other. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster. We’re just so grateful the kids are okay. They’re all doing well, have great jobs, keep up with doctor appointments, and are closer than ever. Most importantly, they’re living the best lives they can. We’re extremely proud of all three.”
Each one hugs me tightly as I prepare to leave – with bear hugs that don’t need a single word. Jenna points to her parents. Garrett and Alissa follow suit. “These two,” she tells me. “They’re why we’re still here. They wouldn’t let us give up or wallow in pity. Rock-solid people, our parents. We’re so lucky to have them in our corner. After lymphoma diagnosis, survivor says: ‘I learned up-close and personal how precious life is’
Sideline hit sums up positive attitude of 13WHAM’s Jenna Cottrell | WHAM
Since childhood, Jenna Cottrell has been a sports fan. In her early teens, she played soccer and started watching sports, activities that provided an escape for her. Back then, she had no idea this passion would turn into a career and an escape after a cancer diagnosis in her 20s.
In fall 2016, at age 25, Jenna started having headaches, fevers and fatigue, but they didn’t slow her down much. She continued life as normal — working as a sports reporter and anchor for WHAM-TV in Rochester and even meeting her boyfriend at a Halloween party.
By January, the symptoms had worsened. She had a lack of appetite, terrible night sweating and extremely uncomfortable fevers. She lost almost 15 pounds and often felt an intense fatigue she described as “tired in my bones.”
She also had some back pain, but she attributed that to carrying around a heavy camera for her job. On Jan. 13, while covering a Buffalo Bills press conference, she was sweating so profusely and looking so ill that another reporter felt the need to ask if she was OK.
She wasn’t.
She had been to the doctor already about the problem, but after that experience, she returned. A few weeks later, she learned she had stage 4 nodular sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma.
“You know from that moment on, your life will never be the same,” she says. “It seemed almost insurmountable. I think a huge part of being diagnosed with cancer is just the mental portion of it. Physically, it’s like all right we’ve got to get through this, but mentally, sometimes it’s even more challenging.”
The week before she started treatment at Wilmot Cancer Institute, her fevers soared, reaching 105 degrees at one point. Luckily, chemotherapy brought the fever down quickly. She received chemotherapy every other week from mid-February to July.
During this time, she lost her hair, which was devastating, but her boyfriend and family were there to comfort her. Her mom even moved in with her for a little while to help.
“The role of a caregiver really can’t be understated, how important they are, in every sense.”
She says.
She took about a month off from work and then started up slowly when she went back. Just the routine of waking up every morning, getting dressed, and driving in helped her feel better. She took it a little easy at work, staying near her desk instead of covering stories all around the region.
She’s grateful to her team at WHAM-TV for their support throughout her treatment,
from verbal encouragement to bringing her food to helping her purchase a wig.
In addition to her co-workers’ generosity, she believes the nature of her work really
helped her through treatment.
“I really think sports being a part of my job is what got me through this and being able
to focus on something else other than myself and what I was going through,” she says.
“I love sports because it’s usually someone’s best day.”
She added the people she gets to meet really inspire her.
“Seeing somebody who has struggled or has gone through loss and then goes and plays a game and excels because they’re channeling their feelings, little things like that just make it really cool to cover,” she says. Jenna also credits her team, including Paul Barr, M.D., and Maureen Tremaine, R.N., M.S.N., who were compassionate and eased her fears with
a treatment plan from the beginning, making a difficult situation a little bit better.
“You don’t want to be here, but the fact that the people here are so kind makes it that much easier,” she says.
It’s been more than a year since her diagnosis, and she continues to be in remission. Having cancer has shifted her outlook. She practices yoga now and tries to live a healthier lifestyle. She also is more conscious of taking time for what matters most in life to her.
“Even though my life now is different, I’m going to make it a better difference and focus
on being healthy and treating people that I love with love back and just try to make the best of it. We shouldn’t have to learn it the way I did, but I think it makes it more realistic,” she says. Spring 2019 | Cottrell to Serve as the Teddi Honorary Chair –
St. John Fisher University (sjf.edu)
331 views Nov 24, 2021
Jenna Cottrell of 13WHAM in Rochester joins Goz to share her career journey.
Topics include: Growing up in Saratoga and how a basketball game decided her college choice The importance of internships Landing a job at ESPN out of college Leaving ESPN for Elmira, NY Joining the 13WHAM team Covering the Buffalo Bills including the viral Mike Evans moment Her battle with cancer and how you can help support this holiday season Jenna Cottrell Gets To 13WHAM – YouTube
Jenna Cottrell – YouTube
(1) Jenna Cottrell (@JennaCottrell) / Twitter
EP 74: Jenna Cottrell, Sports Reporter | MoranAlytics.com
Jenna Cottrell (@jennacottrell) • Instagram photos and videos
@buffalobills beat reporter
cancer survivor 
TV sports anchor
Buffalo Nerd Sports Podcast with Jenna Cottrell of BuffaloPlus.com – Buffalo Rumblings
Circling the Wagons: Bills roster news with Jenna Cottrell of 13 WHAM News – Buffalo Rumblings
Bucs receiver apologizes for (accidentally) knocking over reporter | For The Win (usatoday.com)
Mike Evans reaches out to WHAM-TV’s Jenna Cottrell following a collision in a Buffalo Bills game.
NFL MVP: Bills trainer who saved Damar Hamlin’s life got a vote (usatoday.com)
The vote came from ESPN’s Suzy Kolber.
for Suzy. I loved the idea. Who said it was a “symbolic gesture representing ‘everyone’
who carries the weight of that job, every week.
They rarely get the recognition they deserve.”
20 Stupid Things Your Doctor Wants You to Stop Doing Right Now (msn.com)
Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles – YouTube