Welcome to the Pink Side

By Sherry Wheeler

Breast cancer is a scary subject, especially when it relates to you. The fear can consume you and overwhelm you. But I discovered that talking about it, and facing the fear, makes it less scary. Writing this story helped me towork throughthe fearand find a strength I didn't know I had.

This is the story of my journey through the fear. My experiences from the beginning diagnosis throughreconstruction surgery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 12, 2009
• ISBN: 9781481767101

Sherry Wheeler

Sherry Wheeler is a Registered Nurse, living and working in Alabama.  She grew up as an Army brat, living both abroad and throughout the U.S.A.  She has lived in Alabama for over 30 years.  She graduated in 1980 with an Associates Degree in Nursing.  She has been a Recovery Room nurse for 23 years.

Book preview

WELCOME TO THE PINK SIDE

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Sherry Wheeler

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2008 Sherry Wheeler. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 12/12/2008

ISBN: 978-1-4343-7050-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-6710-1 (ebk)

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For Marilyn, who cried with me, laughed with me, and encouraged me to write this. I love you, Sis. Thank you. (P.S. I’m gonna have perky boobs … Nyah, Nyah, Nyah!)

For Pat, whose friendship and love give me courage.

For Sonya, my bestest friend in the whole world.

For the Florida girls, I don’t know what I would do without you.

And for my family, y’all are my strength, my heart, and my home.

It’s been said that life begins at forty, and I’ve come to believe that this is true. A few years after I hit forty, I discovered that somewhere along the way, I had left behind the shy, scared, immature little girl who lived inside me.

I had grown up as an army brat and had never lived anywhere longer than three years. Growing up that way, you either become very outgoing or extremely shy. You also tend to avoid close relationships, because it hurts too much to say good-bye when it’s time to move again. So I became extremely shy. That shyness followed me through my childhood, through high school, and even through nursing school. It was still hard for me to open up even after I graduated and started working as a nurse.

Then when I was thirty-five, my mother died, and suddenly I wasn’t a little girl anymore. I was a grown-up. It was shortly after this that I decided it was time for a change. But at that same moment, I realized that without knowing it, I had already been changing. I had been forming close relationships with people at work and at the church I was attending. I had lived in one place for more than twenty years. I had been working as a nurse for over ten years. I was stronger and more confident than I realized. I was finally a grownup. I found that people respected me and liked who I was. And I discovered that I didn’t have to be a skinny supermodel to be beautiful. I started believing that I was beautiful. I had been shopping at

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Lane Bryant one day and found that they sold sexy underwear in larger sizes. I was like