Jill Martin Shares Her New Mission amid Ongoing Breast Cancer Treatment: 'To Save Lives' (Exclusive)

The 'Today' show contributor tells PEOPLE about her ongoing breast cancer treatments and why it's so important to tell her story in real time

Jill Martin is the first person to admit that her experience with breast cancer, which she's been receiving treatment for since August, has been one of the hardest things she's ever had to go through.

"It's effing hell," Martin, 47, tells PEOPLE of balancing chemo treatments with work duties, as well as doing physical therapy to recover from the double mastectomy she had seven weeks ago, while also preparing for an upcoming hysterectomy.

But she also knows she has a duty to continue talking about her own experience in real time. She wants to keep encouraging women around the world to get tested for the BRCA gene and get mammograms to avoid ending up in a similar situation.

"If I can help save lives, even if it's one person, and to keep one family from having to go through this, I would take the cancer," she says. "It would be absolutely worth it. Knowing that I'm raising awareness is honestly the one thing that's getting me through this."

Related: Today's Jill Martin Diagnosed with Breast Cancer — One Week After Testing Positive for the BRCA Gene (Exclusive)

Martin says her own cancer journey has been almost surreal — especially because it has happened so fast. "I almost feel like I'm telling somebody else's story," she says, of finding out mid-summer that she'd tested positive for the BRCA gene. Once she tested positive, she decided that she'd get preventative surgery to avoid getting cancer —  but a week later, during an MRI, the doctor told her they'd found an aggressive tumor.

"This was like whizz, bang, boom. They tell me, 'You have your BRCA positive gene,' so I go to get the MRI to get the preventative surgery, and they're like, 'You have an aggressive tumor and we won't know if it's in your lymph nodes until you have surgery.' So they scheduled surgery for right away. It was crazy. I was healing and grieving and fighting all at the same time," she says.

Martin says that after her double mastectomy, her surgeon suggested chemotherapy to make sure there was nothing in her lymph nodes. She adds that she's now halfway through her treatments, and she'll "throw the kitchen sink" at the disease while continuing to educate women about BRCA gene testing.

"What I want to say it, to anyone who might be afraid of what the test reveals, don't be. Or if you're thinking, "I'll get my mammogram next week, or next month, don't. Please don't put it off. Don't be that person," she says. "Have the knowledge about your own health so you can talk with your family and your doctor about what's right for you. And if you do end up having to go through treatment, yes, it's effing hell. But some people don' t even have that option. And what's the alternative option? It's death."

Martin also wants to point out that she was very vigilant about staying on top of her mammograms and sonograms. "I had a clean mammogram in January. By June I had a tumor, that I only caught because of the BRCA gene. So getting tested is very, very worth it."

Martin admits the chemo has taken it's toll, and there are some days that she can't do anything but lay in bed and sleep. Despite that, "I still feel like the luckiest person in the world," she says, adding that she's been relying on her support system of her husband, parents, and Today show colleagues.

Related: Stars Who Faced Breast Cancer and Shared Their Stories

"I've changed my outlook about chemotherapy. I now say chemotherapy is my best friend," she says, despite the side effects she's experiencing, like joint pain and mood swings from the steroids she takes to combat nausea. "I'm definitely dealing with rollercoaster. But I'm looking forward to ringing that final-day-of-treatment bell."

Martin adds that one thing she has gained from having cancer is more empathy for strangers. "You never know what someone is going through," she says. "Cancer touches everyone. And it takes so much from everyone. Every man and woman fighting it is a badass." She says she's also found a new level of self-confidence.

"I am more confident than I've ever been the decisions that I'm making," she says. "So many people said, 'Are you sure you want to tell this story in real time?' And I said, 'This is the story I want to tell and I want to do it in real time because I wouldn't be able to heal properly knowing that people could have gotten tested and possibly taken preventative measures." She adds, "And so many people already have. I've heard from countless women that they've gotten tested because of me."

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Now she's determined to keep spreading awareness — and come out on the other side of this. "I'm 47. I'm a newlywed. I have a lot of life to live," she says. "So I'm so grateful we caught this."

She adds, "Cancer does not discriminate. It doesn't care how nice you are. It doesn't care how much good you do. It doesn't care how up to date on your screenings you are. It doesn't care. It wants to spread. It wants to attack. And so we, as a community, have to do everything we can to raise awareness for women and men. We have to save lives."

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