I can only imagine being told I had ovarian cancer and required immediate surgery and chemo.
I can only imagine being told 3 times in 5 years that I was going to die.
I can only imagine being alone and battling cancer with no family for support.
I can only imagine the physical pain and the emotional roller coaster that one must endure on a daily basis as they fight for their life and struggle to survive.
Jobless because of the recession.
Unable to draw un-employment .
Unable to draw disability because of the back-log of applications.
Living on $200 a month in food stamps.
Living on prayer and the kindness of friends and strangers.
Living each day looking at the scars from numerous surgeries and a port hanging from her body.
Asking herself…How much more Chemo can they put in me?
Savings depleted. Life on hold. Almost homeless.
How do you help someone like this? A fellow angler…a Girl Scout troop leader…a cat lover…a former teacher of special needs children…a believer in God…a stranger in another state…someone I met on a fishing forum and now a friend on Face Book.
This is Cheri’s story.
Born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 42 year-old Cheri Lovell spent her childhood living on a diary farm. She enjoyed the typical activities that most kids enjoyed back then such as roller skating and bike riding, but she was also gifted in drawing and writing poetry, winning several awards for both. Around the farm Cheri was known as “the cow calmer”. Whenever there was a mean cow that no one could handle, Cheri possessed the ability to calm it down.
Cheri worked hard and made excellent grades in school. She even became a certified life guard by the age of 14. At age 15 she took advantage of a “work for credit” class in high school and learned about working, budgeting money and other skills needed to live on your own. Her first job was at McDonalds where she continued to work for 9 years. She earned 3 credits a year for taking the class and did not have to attend school her senior year because of the extra credits earned.
At age 16, Cheri was asked to pay rent or move out. She chose to go live with and take care of her invalid grandmother. Soon after, Cheri was alone and on her own.
It was not until Cheri was 18 that she was introduced to fishing. She was a member of a local CB radio club that would meet in the evenings on Lake Michigan in Racine, Wisconsin to shoot the breeze and watch the sunset. Once the sun set, the group would split up. Some would go out for dinner and coffee, while others would go fishing on a nearby pier. Cheri was always the one who went to dinner. But one night, after some nudging, she decided to check out the fishing. Already prepared with a fishing pole and gear in hand, she joined her group of friends on the end of the pier. After sitting there for 6 hours and not getting a bite or seeing or touching a fish, she stood up, handed her pole and gear to the person next to her and proclaimed “I give up”! Cheri never touched another fishing pole until she was 31 years old.
It was her boyfriend at the time that renewed her interest in fishing. He had rented a house on Okauchee Lake for them to share. The first time Cheri saw the house, he told her to grab some bread to take with them as he showed her the pier and the back yard. Cheri thought they were going to feed the ducks. When he told her to throw the pieces of bread into the water she was amazed at the hundreds of bluegills rising to the surface and feeding on the bread. The next day she walked to a nearby bait shop and bought a new pole and gear and bait and borrowed a pole and asked for some advice from the owner of the bait shop. Returning home, Cheri headed straight for the pier, got one pole rigged and cast it out. As she was busy rigging up another pole, she turned around and noticed that her bobber was nowhere to be seen. She grabbed the pole and set the hook on a 4 pound smallmouth bass. Her first fish ever! Cheri was hooked from that day on. She eventually became so obsessed with fishing that she started an organization called Tomorrow’s Future. Its mission was to collect tackle donations for underprivileged kids as well as donating to Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Cops and Bobbers.
Between the ages of 18 and 37, Cheri was busy teaching and working on her dream of opening her own school for young children with learning disabilities. She was engaged and had just signed papers for her dream house on the Mississippi River. She was on top of the world!
All of Cheri’s dreams came to a halt in May of 2005 when she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer after being bedridden for a week with severe stomach pain. She was told she needed immediate surgery and chemo treatments. With so much information being thrown at her so fast, Cheri was lost and confused and asking herself what she had done so wrong to cause all this. Upon learning about Cheri’s cancer, her fiancé dumped her and left her with the bills and a house payment.
Even after surgery and while undergoing chemo treatments, Cheri continued to work two jobs to try to pay the bills and keep her dream home. By Christmas that same year, she had to call it quits and move back to Waukesha, Wisconsin. Next was more surgery to remove spreading tumors and part of her stomach lining. She became very sick and ended up being confined to bed for many months. A visiting nurse had to administer her chemo. Miraculously, by May of 2007 she was well enough to go back to work and she started fishing again.
In the spring of 2009, Cheri was back in the hospital where she spent a month fighting the cancer that was spreading, despite all the treatments and medications.
The past year has been the hardest on Cheri. Harder to make ends meet. Unable to get a job now because of the side effects of the Chemo that she must take to keep the cancer stable. Now having trouble walking and standing because of damage to her joints, muscles, nerves and bones. Cheri’s only saving grace has been grants for her medical care, but when it comes to the necessities in life – items needed on a daily basis to live in dignity and comfort – there is only the kindness of the friends she has made on forum boards such as TheBassholes.com and on CaringBridge.com. There is no government help in Wisconsin for anyone who is single or childless.
Cheri has been told by her doctors that she will never be in remission, but they also told her three times that she would die. Cheri is fighting as hard as she can but she can no longer do it alone. I hope Cheri’s story will bring awareness to her struggle with cancer and surviving on a daily basis. I believe that charity begins at home. If we each do our part, no matter how small, it can make a big difference in the quality of life for cancer patients like Cheri.
If you would like to read more about Cheri Lovell, you can visit her page on "http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/muskygirl" or add her as a friend on FaceBook. Her mailing address is Cheri Lovell, Neshkoro, Wisconsin 54960.
