Her story
Jennifer Mueller
July 9, 1982 to January 17, 2018. Eight years with a rare liver cancer, and a mantra that outlived it.
Jenn was diagnosed with Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma, a rare cancer of the liver that mostly turns up in young adults with otherwise healthy livers. She lived with it for eight years. She wrote this near the end of them.
“Through it all, I have come to see how blessed I am. Each day I wake up and take my chemo pills, I know that I have been given another day to change the world! I can be a part of my niece's and nephew's lives! I have been able to develop relationships with my family and friends. I have been given the chance to continue. I have been given the chance to LIVE and LOVE!!
Cancer has truly changed me. It has taught me to work harder, to dream bigger, to love passionately, to pray more, to worry less about the little things, to be more positive, to celebrate each day and to be stronger! I came across a saying that has become my mantra, “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.”
My heart smiles because I have been blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible people! Thank you for being part of my journey in this crazy life!”
What followed
Her family kept the promise.
Jenn died on January 17, 2018, at 35. The following year her family and friends started a 5K in O'Fallon, the Run for Pancakes, and they have run it on the second saturday in july ever since. The 8th annual ran on Saturday, July 11, 2026.
The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. What it raises does two things: it funds the Jenn Mueller Memorial Scholarship for Hospitality Management students at Colorado State University, and it goes back into the community and the families who need it here at home.
There is a reason the race is a party. Jenn asked people to celebrate each day. Once a year, in the middle of an Illinois July, several hundred people put on green shirts and Santa hats and do exactly that.
About the diagnosis
Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Fibrolamellar HCC is a rare liver cancer. Unlike most liver cancers it usually appears in adolescents and young adults with no underlying liver disease, which is part of why it is so often caught late. It is rare enough that research funding is scarce and most people have never heard of it until it arrives in their family.
Jenn lived with it for eight years. The green ribbon in the foundation logo is for liver cancer.
Join in
Say her name out loud once a year.
Run it, walk it, sponsor it, or just put something in the fund. All of it goes to the same place.