Breast cancer awareness Masseuse for rock stars: Windber therapist didn't want to spend her life battling cancer
Oct. 27—WINDBER, Pa. — Both at home and on the road, Jennifer Zindash has spent most of her career helping people feel their best.
For the massage therapist, that includes treating people at her Paint Borough home office, 911 Massage Clinic, and at music venues across Pennsylvania — helping big-name performers such as Styx get ready to rock on stage.
But in early 2020, a breast cancer diagnosis forced Zindash to focus on her own health, she said.
Today, Zindash credits proactive genetic testing completed before her cancer was detected — and a proactive decision she made to ensure she doesn't develop breast cancer again — for enabling her to live her life to the fullest.
A Shade High School graduate, Zindash has been working as a massage therapist for 18 years with her husband, David.
The couple have been married for 27 years.
"I love taking care of people," she said.
Whether it's people suffering from multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders, back issues or other ailments, Zindash said there's a joy to seeing people exit her clinic smiling again after walking in a short time earlier barely able to function.
"Helping people — that's the best part of my job," she said.
In 2020, Zindash's biggest worry was that cancer could prevent her from continuing to do that job.
Family history
The disease runs in her family.
Her mother passed away in 2019 from breast cancer, Zindash said.
Her dad's mother battled the disease in the late 1980s.
Knowing her family history on both sides, she decided to get genetic testing through the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center. The procedure included a blood draw that concluded that she had a 1-in-3 chance of developing breast cancer.
A 3-D mammogram followed — and, as it turned out, the exam showed she had something developing in her breast tissue.
It was small enough that doctors decided to monitor it rather than take any action.
By March 2020, a follow-up MRI revealed the mass was growing in her left side, she said.
By then, COVID-19 brought most procedures to a halt.
"That was difficult," she said, "just waiting and not being able to do anything about it."
By May, Zindash was able to take steps to remove the benign cancer.
Double mastectomy
Given her family history, she decided she didn't want to go through the lengthy treatment and recovery process of having the mass removed only to potentially learn the cancer had returned years from now.
"I'm 46 years old. I didn't want to worry about going through (breast cancer) again, not to mention chemotherapy and radiation," Zindash said. "I wanted this to be over and done with."
She decided to have a double mastectomy and chose a procedure called a DIEP flap to reconstruct new breasts from existing abdomen tissue, fat and blood vessels.
Given how important it is to maintain the core strength she relies on during massages, Zindash said she discovered that the procedure was the best option for her, even if it would mean a long recovery period.
"I had to take four months off — there were so many restrictions," she said, noting that for quite a while she was restricted even from lifting her tiny Chihuahua, Ava.
She ended up having two corrective tissue surgeries — as recent as July.
"I don't regret it at all," she said. "Having (a reconstructed chest), it's still taking some getting used to. But I'm able to do what I'm passionate about — and I'm still here.
"I'm convinced if I didn't have my genetic testing, I'd probably be a Stage 3 and so much worse off than when I started this journey."
Today, Zindash is back to treating neighbors at home and rock 'n' roll royalty on the road.
She's worked when needed for Stage Hands Massage for the past 12 years, since getting a call in 2010 to provide massage therapy at the Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper concert at the then-Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
Since then, she's traveled to venues from Pittsburgh to Lancaster to provide pre-show treatment to keep performers, tour managers and their crews comfortable.
Zindash listed the classic rock band Styx and the mask-clad, Midwestern metal band Slipknot as among her favorites to work with.
"But you quickly learn that artists are a lot different offstage than you might think they'd be," Zindash said. "Once the masks are off, they're just like everyone else. It's, 'How's the family, Jenn?' 'How's it going?' Most performers just want to be treated like everyone else."
Still, it's a great experience for Zindash, who has a passion for live music.
She and her husband have been going to concerts together to see their favorite bands since they started dating.
Zindash's brother, C.W. Beckley, said it's fitting that his sister has found a way to blend two of her passions — music and massage therapy.
But it's no accident, he said.
"Jenn doesn't let fate decide anything for her," Beckley said.
"Once she has her mind made up about something, she finds a way to make it happen."
She took the same approach with breast cancer, he said.
He said the fact that both of them had to watch their mother struggle through chemotherapy and radiation likely helped shape her decision to get a double mastectomy.
"She knew about the genetic history," he said. "And when you see what cancer can do to someone you love, it gives you perspective. She wanted to give herself the best chance possible to have a long, wonderful life with her husband, David.
"She did it for both of them."
That's Jennifer, Beckley said.
"She does whatever she can to make her life into what she wants to make it," he said. "She's strong-willed. She goes out there and makes it happen."
