PORTRAIT
Jacqueline
Jacqueline’s Story: Seeing the glass as half full, despite everything
diagnosis
country
Germany
age at diagnosis
53
diagnosed in
March 2024
Cancer center
Hospital in Munich
THEMES
Munich, Germany / Cape Town, South Africa: Jacqueline Menzel has always had a positive outlook on life. She built a successful career in technology, traveled extensively and enjoyed discovering new places on her own. In 2023, she decided to slow down and take a sabbatical. She traveled, spent time in Cape Town, her “happy place”, and eventually launched her own business.
She was enjoying a new sense of freedom when she began to feel that something was changing: her energy started to disappear. A skin condition she had experienced throughout her life became much more severe. Then came stomach pain and bloating. In March 2024, she went to see a doctor in Cape Town, and a CT scan led to an urgent hospital referral.
A doctor at the hospital told her she had cancer and needed to return to Germany. Further tests in Munich revealed the diagnosis: stage 4 Burkitt lymphoma, a rare and highly aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
For Jacqueline, the diagnosis felt strangely distant. Cancer had never been part of her close circle, so she found it difficult to connect the word with her own mortality. Her first instinct was practical. She needed to arrange her flight, organize her health insurance and put her life in Cape Town in order.
“Your body is talking to you. You just need to learn how to read the signals.”
“August 29 is my new birthday”.
(date of her remission)
Eight months of treatment
On April 6, 2024, Jacqueline began an eight-month hospital journey in Munich. She spent two weeks in intensive care before starting an intensive chemotherapy protocol. Treatment came in six-day blocks, with six blocks in total. The months that followed brought a series of serious complications, including kidney failure, lung embolisms, a lung infection, COVID-19 and episodes of sepsis. She also received blood transfusions. Jacqueline lost 25 kilograms and spent almost two months in bed. Eventually, she had to learn how to walk again.
Even during this difficult period, Jacqueline found ways to bring her own personality into the hospital routine. She gave her chemotherapy drugs playful names and called her treatment room her “cocktail bar.” Music from the 1990s like Björk, Depeche Mode and Mylène Farmer accompanied her as she slowly rebuilt her strength.
The first major piece of good news came in late June, when doctors told Jacqueline that the treatment was working. On August 29, she learned that she was in full remission. That date now has a special place in her life. After six chemotherapy blocks and almost eight months in hospital, Jacqueline finally returned home on November 11, 2024.
Learning to listen to her body
Leaving the hospital marked the beginning of another part of Jacqueline’s journey. Her body needed time to recover from everything it had been through. She also found that memories of her treatment could return unexpectedly, through a television scene, a hospital device or even seeing someone wearing a chemotherapy head covering. Recovery carried both physical and emotional dimensions.
“Today, when I tell my story in detail, it is almost like I am talking about another person.”
Jacqueline chose to build her recovery around the support that felt right for her. Most importantly, she learned to listen more closely to her body. After eight months at the hospital, she wanted to rebuild her strength at home. She worked with a personal trainer, consulted healthcare professionals and continued seeing her doctors and oncologist.
Rest has become a way of responding to what her body needs. This new awareness has also changed the way Jacqueline approaches everyday life. She has adjusted parts of her diet and daily routine, while giving herself more space to slow down and recover when she needs to.
For her, recovery is about more than returning to the person she was before cancer: it is about understanding her body, respecting its signals and finding a rhythm that allows her to move forward.
Turning experience into support for others
Today, Jacqueline wants to turn some of her experiences into practical support for others. In Munich, she is developing a concept called “Two Times Cancer, Two Times Coffee,” where people affected by cancer can meet her for coffee and talk with someone who understands the experience firsthand. The idea is simple: to create a space where people can talk openly with someone who understands what they are going through.
Her experience has also shaped the way she thinks about friendship and support. A visit, a message or a handwritten postcard can mean a great deal during a long hospital stay. For her, life after treatment can be its own chapter. Recovery can take time, and returning to everyday life can bring its own challenges and discoveries.
Today, she carries a greater awareness of how quickly life can change. Cancer changed the way she looks at her time and energy. She has become more comfortable protecting both and making space for the things that matter to her. She still loves music. She still loves to travel. And she still sees the glass as half full.
For Jacqueline, sharing her experience is a way of making survivor stories more visible and helping other people affected by cancer see that life after a diagnosis can hold recovery, new experiences and plans for the future.
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