CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) – Battling cancer is tough, but a Chesapeake woman and Navy veteran is proving she’s even tougher.

Jessica Brennanman got the news in May of last year.

“I kind of sat in silence and didn’t remember anything he said to me after I heard the words, ‘you have breast cancer,'” Brennanman said.

She was devastated, but she picked herself up and decided to prove just how strong she was and took up bodybuilding.

“I really think being active and being involved with fitness is helping me defeat cancer, and I’m beating it right now,” she said.

Brennanman made it her goal to compete in a show. After seven months of training, Jessica competed in Baltimore last month.

“I got on stage with a huge smile on my face, did my poses and I won,” she said.

“You can take my hair, you can take my tatas, but you can never take my fight.”

– Jessica Brennanman

She won first place in the Armed Forces category and medaled in other divisions.

However, she said training for the competition wasn’t easy. The side-effects of radiation were taking over parts of her body.

“It would literally burn my skin,” she said. “It would turn red and everything on my chest and under my arm.”

Jessica is scheduled to have reconstruction surgery next month, and plans to train for more shows next year.

“You can take my hair, you can take my tatas, but you can never take my fight,” she said.