Something didn’t feel right.
In December 2019, while performing her monthly breast self-exam, Sharla H. noticed a change that prompted her to schedule an appointment with her doctor. Further testing followed, and by mid-January 2020, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“It felt like a race,” she recalled. “Not because it actually was, but because everything was so new and uncertain.”
After her initial evaluation, Christian Zwick, DO, a general surgeon at Quincy Medical Group (QMG), helped coordinate further testing and connect her with the oncology team. As appointments quickly filled her calendar, Sharla knew she had a team helping her understand each step and what came next.
By Valentine’s Day 2020, she had started chemotherapy. Within weeks, another challenge emerged as COVID-19 began reshaping everyday life, changing how she experienced care almost overnight.
“My mom or my husband would drop me off at the door, and then someone would pick me up,” she said. “It was just a whole different world.”
At the same time, life at home and work carried on in a new rhythm. A high school teacher, Sharla continued teaching through treatment until spring break of 2020, when schools shut down.
Over the next several months, Sharla completed 16 chemotherapy treatments before undergoing a double mastectomy in July 2020. She remembers that period as a blur of appointments, treatments, and recovery.
Through it all, she credits the steady support of her care team at the QMG Cancer Institute. She still remembers her second appointment clearly, when her full lab results came in. Raymond Smith, MD, oncologist, spent more than an hour with her that day, mapping out the road ahead.
“He brought a lot of peace through all of that,” she says. “No question ever felt too small or insignificant.”
Today, Sharla continues with six-month follow-ups. Life feels different now than it did before her diagnosis. Her family came through the experience closer than ever, and she is more intentional about how she spends her time.
When Sharla attended the Cancer Survivors Day event hosted by the QMG Foundation last year to mark her five-year milestone, the emotional weight of survivorship settled in again.
“It’s a happy occasion and a sad occasion,” she said. “It’s hard to celebrate because some of the people that I went through treatment with are not here with me today.”
For Sharla, survivorship is both a gift and a reminder not to take time for granted.
“I feel very blessed to be here,” she shared. “I know many people’s stories ended differently than mine. If God chose for me to still be here, then there’s something I still need to do. Maybe that’s to encourage someone else through their journey or to be that positive light for others.”
This June, her story is one of many being recognized during National Cancer Survivors Month. Throughout the month, ribbons displayed on the Tree of Hope outside the QMG Cancer Institute honor survivors from across the region and reflect the many paths people take after a cancer diagnosis.
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