And The Next Thing You Know podcastEpisode 004: Jenessa Schwartz - There's Blood In My Stool
This is my conversation with Jenessa Schwartz. She’s 37 years old, and she’s living with stage 4 colon cancer. She’s also my niece, my sister Cyndi’s daughter. Jenessa has two kids under 10. She was the Womb For Hire (her words) for two adorable surrogate kids, which is one of the menschiest things a person can do in this life. She’s a middle school language arts teacher, a musical theater aficionado, a giant nerd, and beloved to her huge, dear circle of friends and family. And she’ll be on chemo or some form of treatment for her cancer for the rest of her life.
More about Jenessa Schwartz
Jenessa’s blogs:
My Colon Cancer: Semicolon, Not Full-Stop
Womb for Hire – Thoughts on becoming a surrogate mother
Jenessa also got press on her surrogacy at
J, the Jewish News Weekly.
Living with stage 4 colon cancer, and, you know, life
In this episode, we covered a lotta ground. We talked about living with stage 4 colon cancer; colorectal cancer and metastatic cancer; HIPEC surgery; surrogacy; parenting and talking to children about cancer; Jewish culture, teaching, and family life; life with a terminal illness; crisis points and how we make choices to change our lives because of them; relationship changes in the context of a crisis; the epidemic of young people with late-stage colorectal cancer; favorite podcasts; and, most importantly, why you should get a colonoscopy right now. Seriously. If you’re 45 or older, even without symptoms, it’s time.
References we cited in the episode
The Major-General’s Song from The Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert and Sullivan, 1879)
The Jewish festival of Purim
Bill’s Café in San Jose’s Rose GardenWhat’s a peritoneum?
HIPEC surgery procedure
