MISSOULA, Mont. — Montanans see Jill Valley on their screens each morning, bringing them the news from across the state, and she’s been a familiar face to Western Montana viewers on KPAX for decades.
But just 16 years ago, Valley was facing a fight of her own.
At just 42 years old, she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, one of the more aggressive forms of the disease.
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That was also the first year KTVQ in Billings held its very first Pink Breakfast, a tradition that continues today to honor breast cancer survivors and the caregivers who stand beside them.
Now, 16 years later, as Pink Breakfast brings people together once again, Valley is looking back on the experience that changed her life. She underwent a mastectomy and rounds of chemotherapy, all while continuing to anchor the news and sharing parts of her journey with viewers across Montana.
It was a deeply personal fight that played out in the public eye — and one that shaped her perspective on life, strength and what it means to be a survivor.
An unexpected discovery
Valley’s diagnosis came after an ordinary moment took an unexpected turn.
In 2010, she noticed the dome light in her car was still on. When she went outside to turn it off, she ran into a bike rack. During the impact, she noticed two lumps.
At first, the diagnosis sent her into a dark place.
“I at first went to a very dark spot,” Valley recalled. “I just envisioned myself dying in a hospital bed at the age of 42, and that was it.”
She allowed herself that first weekend to cry and process what was happening.
But soon, her focus began to shift.
“You have a choice: Do I let this defeat me, or do we go to the doctor, and we figure out the steps and we win,” she said.
Sharing her fight with Montana
Valley had spent decades in the public eye, including 25 years as a news anchor at KPAX. Keeping her diagnosis private would be difficult, especially as treatment began to change her appearance.
“I didn’t necessarily want to do this publicly,” Valley said. “But I was a news anchor on KPAX for 25 years at that point, so I wasn’t getting away with getting cancer and wearing a wig without people saying, ‘What’s going on here?’”
As she began losing her hair, October brought another reality into focus: Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Valley decided to share more of her experience with viewers.
“I thought the stronger I can be with a smile on my face, maybe that gives someone else hope,” she said.
Her coworkers, viewers and community became part of that journey, offering support as she continued to navigate treatment.
16 years later, a new perspective
Valley’s breast cancer journey included losing her right breast and undergoing rounds of chemotherapy. But today, she says, surviving the disease has given her a different perspective on life.
“The fact that it’s been 16 years, I had an aggressive kind. I was younger, my daughter was younger, and I am still here,” she said.
She looks back on the experience as a chapter of her life, not something that defines all of who she is.
And while the memories remain, so does a sense of gratitude for the moments she has been able to experience since.
“I get to see these wondrous things, and if I didn’t make it through that, I couldn’t,” Valley said.
Turning survival into hope
Valley hopes that by sharing her story, others facing a breast cancer diagnosis can find encouragement in knowing they are not alone.
“It will just be part of your story, and maybe you’ll be able to encourage somebody else when they’re going through it too,” she said.
Now, Valley continues to deliver the news to Montanans each morning. And during Pink Breakfast, as the community honors breast cancer survivors and the strength it takes to face the disease, her story serves as a reminder of the life and hope that can follow a diagnosis.
For Valley, surviving breast cancer is part of her story — but it is not the whole story.
