Strength To Survive

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A soft knot in the shower. A mammogram full of white clusters. A phone call that split life in two. Sherry takes us inside a harrowing, courageous fight with stage three triple-negative breast cancer—and everything that followed: months of chemo, a bilateral mastectomy, radiation, sudden heart failure, and a stroke. What begins as a warning about small, easy-to-ignore signals becomes a masterclass in self-advocacy, medical literacy, and the kind of support that actually helps.

We talk plainly about what chemo feels like—cold caps, ports, taste vanishing, and the slow arithmetic of calories when food turns to dust. Sherry explains why she chose to remove both breasts, how reconstruction unfolds over multiple surgeries, and why she cut alcohol, fried foods, and red meat to protect her heart and healing. Her cardiology team helped raise her ejection fraction from 15 percent to 50 percent, and she details the daily habits that made recovery real: water over everything, low-salt meals, short walks that became longer hills, and rest without guilt.

This conversation also names what doesn’t get said enough. Triple-negative breast cancer disproportionately affects Black women, and delayed screening costs lives. We lay out practical, step-by-step guidance: schedule mammograms, request an ultrasound for dense breasts, check underarms and tissue after showers, track sudden weight changes, pay attention to balance and urination, and call your doctor when something feels off. For Black men, the message is just as urgent—stop avoiding the clinic, get baseline labs by your mid-30s, and follow through.

Above all, this is a love letter to real support: the friends who show up without questions, the partners who carry the load, and the family who keep the light on. If this story moves you, share it with someone who needs courage today. Subscribe for more honest conversations about health and healing, and leave a review with the one screening you’ll book this week.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
Welcome, welcome to the Your Opinion Doesn't Matter

(00:02):
Podcast.
I am Mr.
Lamont, one of the hosts, andI'm here with none other Sherry
Berry.
How are you doing?
I'm doing well.
How are you?
I'm doing good.
I'm doing good.
And uh we have none other BlackJesus Sterling.
How are you doing, bro?

SPEAKER_03 (00:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We in here, you know.
Everything is good.
Can't complain, baby.

SPEAKER_02 (00:21):
And we have a newcomer.

SPEAKER_03 (00:23):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (00:23):
You know, to my right, my guy, Mr.
Breeze.
How are you, bro?

SPEAKER_08 (00:30):
Thank you.
I thank y'all for inviting me.
I'm glad to be here.
You know what I mean?
On the Your Opinion Doesn'tMatter podcast.
You know, it's a great event forme today.
Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 (00:39):
Thank you, man.
Even though you know you messwith my sobriety, man.
You know, you got thealcoholist.

SPEAKER_08 (00:44):
Listen, I was having a drink with my homie out um,
you know, offset.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (00:51):
I'm going on four years, man.
I'm fighting the fight, man.
Keep fighting.
Keep fighting.
Every day is a fight.
That's good.
Yeah, man.
Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_08 (00:57):
I gotta stop, but he had the white headset.

SPEAKER_06 (01:01):
All right.
Yes, as everybody out thereknows, this is officially breast
cancer awareness month.
And you know, we're going todedicate the episodes to those
out there who are dealing withthe issue, whether you're
dealing with it personally, youhave a loved one dealing with
it, or you lost a loved onealong the way.

(01:22):
You know, the fallen soldiersand the sleeping angels.
And as we are on the subject, Ijust like to give pay honor to
two people with lost, not tojust breast cancer in general,
one, but the other one is tocervical cancer.
I like to pay honor and homageto Miss Josephine Pierre.
She was like my stepmom.
I loved her, and she's actuallymy brother Breeze's mother.

(01:44):
And she was very, she was aspecial light in our life, and
we love and we miss her, and wesend our condolences.
And also to another dear friendof mine, her name was Tony
Saran.
Breeze also knows her, man.
She was like our little sister,man.
And she just succumbed to breastcancer less than a year ago, and

(02:06):
that was another shining lightthat was dimmed out.
And we just let everybody, allthe family friends, know that we
love Anna, and we fight thefight with you.
Yeah.
At this moment, I'm going topass the mic to my cousin Sherry
Berry, and she's going to giveyou her testimony on how breast

(02:26):
cancer affected her life.

SPEAKER_00 (02:28):
Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_06 (02:29):
You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
Well, welcome everyone.
Um, thank you.
First of all, thank you for youknow wanting to do the podcast
on breast cancer.
I do believe it's a veryimportant thing.
Um, and I'm happy that I'm gonnasay that God gave me the
strength to even talk about itbecause I haven't talked about
it.
Um, little by little, I tell oneor two people as this goes

(02:53):
along, but I haven't reallytalked about it much.
So we can get into it, and I canjust say first, all women,
please go get checked.
Um, it's all fun and game when aguy meets you and he says, Oh,
you know, you got brick breasts.
And you know, we we as women, weturn around like, oh yeah,
everything's breastfaster.
Go get checked.

(03:14):
Go get checked.
It doesn't matter what age.
Don't listen to them when theysay to you, you have to be 40
plus or you have to be just goget checked.
Um, you know, go to your GYN ona regular and do those things,
those little things.
It does matter if you get if itgets caught early, it can save a
life.

(03:34):
So it's it's just veryimportant.
So I'm just gonna say thatbefore going into anything else.
Um, so just to share a littlebit of my story, um, I was 2022
living regular life, doing mything.

(03:58):
Just going through life and justdoing everything possibly.
Um, and I was gaining weight,and I was always a thick girl,
so I never really thought aboutit.
I just, you know, hey, you know,um always knew how to rock my
clothes and look good in myclothes and worked out and did
all of this stuff.
And um, but I started gainingweight, and I was like, oh, why

(04:19):
am I gaining so much weight?
And um I turned to mysignificant husband at the time
and I said, Listen, I'm gainingweight, gaining weight.
And he's like, Oh no, you youknow, you look good, nothing's
wrong with you.
And um I said, Well, I'm justgonna go for a checkup.
And I went for a checkup,everything was fine, no worries,
no problem.

(04:40):
And I was going to work one dayand I was waiting for the train.
And when I went to go get on atrain, I did a like I was gonna
fall down, and I held on realstern, and I was like, I don't
know what's wrong.
I just feel off.
My body just feels off.
I went to work, I did everythingthat said, I'm gonna go get a
checkup again becausesomething's just off.

(05:01):
Okay, twice.
Yeah, twice.
Just little signs.
And I was like, oh, I'm gonna goget a checkup again.
And so I called, I didn't go.

SPEAKER_06 (05:13):
Why you lost the nerve at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 (05:15):
I just felt, you know, it's like that happened to
me that day, and then I wasfine.

SPEAKER_02 (05:19):
I understand, understand.

SPEAKER_00 (05:20):
So then I didn't go.
Okay.
I I just didn't go.

SPEAKER_02 (05:23):
You was about to go, and then they said no.
I just you felt better.
I felt better.

SPEAKER_00 (05:28):
So I was like, oh, I'm not gonna go.
Okay, and so I didn't go, andlife went on as normal, and I
was doing everything.
And then I went to go take a Iwent to take a shower and I took
the rag and I went right hereunder my left breast.
And it was like uh a knob.

SPEAKER_06 (05:49):
Really?

SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
Yeah.
And I was like, what is that?
You know?
So I came out the shower, waterstill running, and I lift up my
arms.
It was like a little, like alittle soft tissue ball that was
there.
And I was like, what is that?
Felt it soft, went back,finished my shower.
I went in the room and I waslike, babe, look at this.

(06:14):
So yeah, so I um showed it tohim and he said to, we Googled
it, and it said You Google it.

SPEAKER_06 (06:23):
I Googled it.
They said that in uh situationslike this, some of the worst
thing to do is to Google.

SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
I tell my patients, don't Google, and I was Google.

SPEAKER_06 (06:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (06:33):
Why do they say that?

SPEAKER_08 (06:33):
Why does it say that?
Yeah, why do they say don'tGoogle?

SPEAKER_00 (06:35):
Because Google is falsified, it doesn't really
give you all the factual of whatit is.

SPEAKER_02 (06:40):
Okay, it makes you more scary.
And it'll leave you, it'll giveyou a few.

SPEAKER_00 (06:43):
And it will tell you a bunch of things, and then your
mind is gonna start to race intodifferent things, and it's not
the best thing to do.
Okay.

SPEAKER_08 (06:50):
I mean, because one thing you said that um you said
you noticed that you gainedweight.
Yes, that's that's a sign ofgood question.
I was wondering the same thing.
Yeah, that's a sign.
So it is a sign.
Is that a sign of cancer?
Is that a sign of it?

SPEAKER_00 (07:06):
It's not even a sign of cancer to what to say the
word cancer, but it is a signthat something could be off in
your body.

SPEAKER_08 (07:12):
Gaining weight?
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 (07:15):
If if you gain a rapid amount of weight in a
short period of time, so if youI can I can say I was always
180.
I went from 180 to then 190, but190 on me looked good.
Big booty was popping, but withthe same eating habits and same
eating habits, then in I was 190and I was fine.

(07:39):
I was 190 for a minute, then allof a sudden, it was 190 couple
weeks, 195.

SPEAKER_07 (07:47):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (07:47):
Then I went from a size 10 genes to a size 12 genes
within a month.

SPEAKER_07 (07:53):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (07:54):
And then a month and a half, I was at a 14.

SPEAKER_08 (07:58):
Wow.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah, I was always under theimpression that if you started
losing weight rapidly, that thatwould be a sign.

SPEAKER_06 (08:06):
That is also a sign.

SPEAKER_00 (08:07):
That's also a sign.

SPEAKER_02 (08:08):
Okay.
Wow, it could go both ways.

SPEAKER_00 (08:10):
It can go both ways.

SPEAKER_06 (08:11):
It usually goes with the weight loss, though.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (08:14):
It goes, you know, it goes with well, it's just
little signs that happening,that something in your body is
off.
Okay.
Okay.
It doesn't always have to bethat diagnosis to be, you know,
to be transparent.
So skip past that.
Um, we did that, then he said,You I think you you need to make

(08:34):
this appointment.
So I called and I made theappointment.
And so um I work in a in ahospital and I work with the
Rangers, with the New York CityRangers, and um my doctor was
going, he was going away withthe team.
So usually when he goes awaywith the team, I would then work

(08:54):
from home.
So when I made the appointment,it was on a day that I was
working at home.
And I was like, who wants to gofrom Brooklyn all the way to the
city for an appointment?
I'm gonna cancel theappointment.

SPEAKER_08 (09:08):
And you canceled the appointment.

SPEAKER_00 (09:10):
No, I called, I called to cancel, and I swear to
you, it's like something said,don't cancel that appointment.

SPEAKER_09 (09:19):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (09:19):
So I didn't cancel the appointment, and I went to
the appointment.
And I went to get my mammogram.
And any woman that knows thatyou have the mammogram, so for
me, I was, I can be honest onthe podcast, I was uh 38 triple
D.

(09:40):
And that's very big breast forwomen and it's very large
breasts, but the right side wasalways normal, and the left side
was always a little bigger.

SPEAKER_06 (09:50):
Oh, through your whole life, through my whole
life.

SPEAKER_00 (09:52):
Okay, okay, and so when the the lady was doing the
mammogram, she did this theright side a little
uncomfortable, but nothingcrazy.
When she was doing the leftside, I was very uncomfortable,
and I remember doing my facelike and she was like, You okay?
And I was like, Yeah, but I workin the medical field.

(10:16):
I can see I can see on top ofthe thing, it was just a lot of
white spots in one breast andnot in the other.

SPEAKER_06 (10:27):
You've seen where it was going before she actually
told me.

SPEAKER_00 (10:29):
So I knew something was off, I just didn't know what
was what or what was going on,and she kept pressing and she
kept saying, just be easy, takeit easy.
And I kept, you know, breathing,breathing and breathing, and
then she stopped.
And she said, I'll be back.

(10:51):
And she left me in the robe andshe left, and then she came back
and she said, The doctor wannatalk to you.
And I said, Okay.
And the doctor came and shesaid, Um, it's nothing, but I
just want to do a biopsy justfor precaution.
I was like, okay.

(11:13):
And um it was just everythingwas just moving so fast, it was
like we gotta do the biopsyright away.
So they did the biopsy, and Iremember laying there and it was
the most painful thing.
So painful.
I was crying so much because Iwas in so much pain.

(11:37):
My breast was hurting me somuch, and the lady kept singing,
Sherry, Sherry Baby, you knowthat song.
She kept singing it, and shekept singing it, and I was like,
Well, I'm in so much pain, itjust hurt me so much.
And she said, Take a deepbreath, you're gonna be okay.
I said, Okay, and I finished andI went home, and she's like,
You're gonna get the results intwo days.

SPEAKER_01 (11:58):
And I was like, Okay.
I was sitting at home and I wasworking from home, and the phone
rang, and I picked up the phone,and that was just the worst day
of my life.
I just, you know, it came back,and I was sitting on the couch
and she said, uh uh, I gottatell you, your results came

(12:24):
back, and I got breast cancer.

SPEAKER_06 (12:30):
She actually told you this over the phone.

SPEAKER_01 (12:33):
Her word was, do you want me to tell you now?

SPEAKER_00 (12:37):
Okay, or do you want me or do you want to come in and
I can tell you?
And I took a deep breath and Iwas like, No, tell me now.

SPEAKER_01 (12:50):
Oh wow, that's and she's like, I'm so sorry.
Uh Zach words, it's I'm sosorry, but it came back positive
for breast cancer, and I justdropped the phone and I just
started screaming so hard, andthen um the positive tight came

(13:13):
out and he said, What happened?

SPEAKER_00 (13:15):
What happened?
And I told him, and then hesaid, Don't worry, everything's
gonna be okay.
And I just saw a blank.
I called my sister, and I juststarted bawling so much, and
it's like when I tell peoplethat uh uh you know my family is
everything because she justdropped everything that she did,

(13:36):
everything, and she just drovedown and she came.
Um and we went to the doctor,and then I just I had stage
three.

SPEAKER_06 (13:45):
Whoa, whoa, I had no idea.
Stage three, stage three, stagethree.
Wow, um, for those who don'tknow what stage three is, what
does that exactly mean?
That is did it master size, didit start?

SPEAKER_02 (14:04):
So how many stages are there?

SPEAKER_06 (14:06):
Four.

SPEAKER_01 (14:08):
So um for me, it was stage three, triple negative
breast cancer.

SPEAKER_00 (14:14):
It's a very um aggressive form of cancer.

SPEAKER_02 (14:18):
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (14:20):
And in my cases, there was no treatment option
for me.
There was no, I couldn't take apill.

SPEAKER_01 (14:31):
I couldn't take a pill, I couldn't do anything.
The only thing that I could doand hope that it worked was
chemo.

SPEAKER_00 (14:39):
So um the doctor came in and he said to me my
sister asked, actually, mysister asked, like, is there
anything, you know, what is ourfighting chance?
So what can we do?
And um is there a fightingchance?

(14:59):
And he said, the only thing thatwe can do is we could do chemo
and we can pray that it works.

SPEAKER_06 (15:06):
Wow, only one option, huh?
Wow.
Only one option.

SPEAKER_00 (15:12):
So um I remember it was Memorial Weekend, and I
usually like to go to like underthe trees.
It's like the party that Ireally like to go to, and um my
world just stopped.
I just I I just did I froze intime.

(15:35):
I just didn't know.
I have three beautiful children.
I just I didn't know what to do.
I didn't know what to do.
I didn't know what I didn't knowwhich way to turn.
And um I had to start chemoright away.
I didn't have a choice in thissituation.

(15:58):
So um I made my appointments andI had to start chemo.
And I remember the first day ofchemo, um she took my hand, I
can say, because I have tattoos.
So they looked at my hand righthere with the tattoo, and they
took my vein, and she did this.

(16:18):
I had to um, it was right afterCrossroad Um Father's Day
brunch.

SPEAKER_01 (16:28):
So I had to look at my hair for the pretty much the
last time I knew it was gonnacome out.

SPEAKER_00 (16:36):
So I looked at myself, I had cornrows going
back, and um I just said in myhead, like, oh my god, this is
probably gonna be the last timeI'm gonna have this style, you
know, just not knowing what I'mgetting myself into.
And um my first true treatmentwas in July and I went, I had

(17:03):
the cornrows going, and the girlsaid, You gotta take the braids
out.

SPEAKER_01 (17:14):
So I had to sit in the chair and I had to lose all
the braids out of my hair.

SPEAKER_08 (17:21):
Hold on, so you said July, July of this year or July
of last year?

SPEAKER_00 (17:25):
No, I started chemo uh in July of 22.

SPEAKER_08 (17:30):
July of 22.

SPEAKER_00 (17:32):
Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 (17:34):
And we're in 25.

SPEAKER_00 (17:35):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 (17:36):
God thank you.
Thank you very much.
I did not know you were goingthrough that, and just hearing
just hearing your story rightnow, it's just it's amazing.
It's amazing because we didn'tknow you were going through
that.
Because you know we're here tosupport you, and we would have
been here for you.
And it's this is actually ourfirst time hearing your

(17:58):
testimony on what you've beenthrough and what you went
through.
And it's just amazing.
Like, God bless you.
You are blessed.
Thank you.
Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 (18:06):
But you know what?
You don't want to not everybodyhas good for you, Breeze.

SPEAKER_08 (18:11):
No, I know.

SPEAKER_00 (18:11):
It's just a true statement in my heart and my
soul.
I had my riding eyes who werethere with me from top to
bottom.
They came knocking on the doorand they came, they never asked
no questions, they was justthere for me.
And so I appreciated in my smallcircle.
I appreciate the people who werethere for me through this time.

(18:33):
And I'm not saying that youwouldn't be knocking at my door.
Sterling knocks on my door.
He calls me all the time, hechecked up on me all the time.
Um, and it had nothing to dowith this situation, just on a
regular checkup.

SPEAKER_06 (18:46):
Let me let me stop you there.
It kind of did have.
I mean, in general, you're mycousin and I love you, and I'm
gonna check up on youregardless.
But I did, I wasn't aware of thetime or exactly what you was
going through, but I had an ideayou were going through
something.
So that motivated me to checkupon you more often and make
sure you were.

SPEAKER_00 (19:04):
And I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_06 (19:05):
You understand?

SPEAKER_00 (19:06):
I appreciate that.
So it's just I'm I'm saying mystory just to tell women that
it's not an easy journey.
I watched myself from having,you know, I wear a lot of wig
and weaves and all this otherstuff, but my natural hair was
right here, right by myshoulder.
And one day just taking ashower, it just in my hand.

(19:28):
Oh you know, it just droppedout, and I was bald.
I had nothing.
And I lost eyelashes, and I lostmy tongue, it was black, and I
brushed my teeth, and my teethwas falling out.
But you went through?

SPEAKER_06 (19:46):
I had no idea.
We had no idea.

SPEAKER_08 (19:47):
Yeah, and we're family, we had no family, and
every time we saw you, youalways looked amazing.
Yes, I tried my best to justThere was never a sign of
anything.

SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
You know, you try to just not I didn't want pity.
I know I don't want pity, and Ididn't want 50 questions, and I
didn't want people to say, Oh mygod, well, oh, she had this, oh
my god, and pry it into my life,and they didn't um really care
or just had good intentions.
So when I went outside, um I I Iput on what I needed to put on,

(20:21):
you know, I did what I had todo.
Um, my support center was great.
So when I, you know, if anyoneever hear me, you know, big up
this gentleman.
I do big him up a lot becausethis man was there for me from
top to bottom and you know,helped me, you know, there's
days I couldn't walk.
I crawled.

(20:42):
There was days that I couldn'teat.
He fed me.
There was days that he had tolift me up the toilet.
There was days that, you know, Icouldn't smell.
He wiped my tears, he wiped mybody, he bade me, you know.
So when I big him up, I don'tbig him up because this, I big
him up because not a lot ofpeople can go through and watch

(21:04):
somebody through those thingsand just be the caring person
that they are.
And and I'll be forever gratefulto him for that.
I would always big him up nomatter what, no matter what life
give me.
I'm always gonna big him upbecause I was at my down.
I was at my down, and he wouldleave work and he would make

(21:26):
sure and come and lift me on thebed and rub my back and rub my
knees and rub my shouldersbecause everything was turning
black.
My arms was black, my my nailpart was black, all of this was
black here, my tongue was black,you know.
Um, it was just a lot of thingsI was going through and he saw

(21:48):
me through.
So I'm always gonna be gratefulfor those blessings.

SPEAKER_08 (21:52):
So let me just ask you, right?
So they diagnosed you with stagethree breast cancer, right?
Yep.
There's only four stages, right?

SPEAKER_01 (22:03):
Only four stages.

SPEAKER_08 (22:04):
So with a diagnosis of stage three, what kind of
prognosis did they give you?
That they did they say you hadat the time?
Like how long did they saybefore it would progress?
Or would it progress if it wentleft?
How long did they give you?

SPEAKER_00 (22:24):
What they said to me was exact words that you have
triple negative breast cancer.
It's very common in black women.

SPEAKER_08 (22:33):
Very common.

SPEAKER_00 (22:35):
They told me it was a very aggressive form of breast
cancer and we need to treat itright away.

SPEAKER_07 (22:41):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (22:43):
She didn't tell me anything except for we're gonna
fight.

SPEAKER_07 (22:47):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (22:48):
We're gonna give you all that we think that we can,
and we're gonna hope and praythat this takes to your body.

SPEAKER_07 (22:56):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (22:57):
So I didn't ask any other questions except for what
do you think do I need to do?
So the first good news was I dida PET scan and the cancer didn't
move.
It did not.

SPEAKER_07 (23:13):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (23:13):
So she knew exactly what's the target area it needed
to go to try to kill the cancercells.

SPEAKER_07 (23:21):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (23:22):
And so in in my chemo, I did all my chemo, I did
all my treatments, and then um Idecided to do a mysectomy, which
was remove my breast.
So I decided to do you did thattoo?
I sure did.

SPEAKER_04 (23:42):
Wait, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_06 (23:46):
You had your your breasts removed?

SPEAKER_00 (23:48):
I removed both.

SPEAKER_08 (23:52):
I've never seen you without your breast.
Not I've never seen a breast.

SPEAKER_06 (24:13):
Yes.
No, yes.
Um but Breeze elaborate on whatyou you're trying to say.

SPEAKER_08 (24:18):
No, I'm just saying, because you've always looked
like you've always had breasts.
Yes.
So I've never seen you not looklike you didn't have breasts.
Even right now.
Even right now, you look breast.

SPEAKER_00 (24:28):
I do have breasts now.
What do you mean you havebreasts now?
Okay, so I decided to dobilateral my um mysectomy, which
is remove my breast.
And so I did it so I had nothingat a point in time.
Um, and so it was a decisionthat I felt was important for me

(24:52):
because I didn't know where thiscame from.
It's not genetic.

SPEAKER_07 (24:56):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (24:56):
No one in the family has that.

SPEAKER_07 (24:58):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (24:59):
Um, and you know, like the doctor said, I just got
a bad dose.
Those I just decided to get ridof it.
Um, you know, to hope, I'm inremission, hope and pray that it
this thing doesn't come back inmy body.

SPEAKER_07 (25:18):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (25:18):
You know, so um that was the that was a decision of
me that I it wasn't aboutanybody else.
It wasn't about if anybody likesme or would want to talk to me
in life, you have to love me forall that I am.
I cannot try to do things toappease anyone but myself at at
this stage and juncture.

SPEAKER_06 (25:39):
So let me ask you a question and let's go back a
little bit.
You having the breast remove,was that optional or was that
part of the absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 (25:46):
So they tell you that you can do uh mysectomy or
lumsectomy, which is the lump isjust taken out, you can just go
in and just take out the thecell and you can still have your
breast tissues and all thatstuff.
I decided to remove the breasttissue.

SPEAKER_08 (26:01):
Weren't they uh weren't the the chances of the
cancer spreading when you remwhen you do the lump wouldn't
that still leave a chance of itcoming back?

SPEAKER_00 (26:14):
Um I don't know to that level because once you do
it and if and you pray that ifthis leaves your your your
system your body you you're notthinking like okay it's you know
it's gonna come back but they dotell you certain things.
So as you may guys may notice,I'm much slimmer.

(26:34):
Um I I eat differently, I don'tdrink liquor anymore, I don't
eat fried foods, I don't, youknow, I don't eat a lot of
things, I don't eat red meatanymore.
Okay, I I've changed mylifestyle because I don't know
where this stuff came from, howit got into my system.
So I'm just very cautious aboutwhat I put into my system now.

(26:58):
So I try to do a lot more clean,eat it, you know, drinking and
things like that.

SPEAKER_06 (27:03):
Very wise.
Very wise.
I I remember you saying not toolong ago on a prior podcast that
you didn't drink anymore.
And I was wondering, I was like,I mean, it was a good thing, but
the back of mine, I was like,why?
But you know, it all makes alittle more sense.

SPEAKER_00 (27:17):
It takes it takes a lot.
And again, you know, I had toweigh my options with a lot of
things because people who peoplewho know me would know that I
love to dress.
You know, when I go out, I liketo look a certain way.
I love my heels, you know, Ilove to look a certain way.

(27:40):
But um I had to take all ofthose things out my side and
said, what do you want to do,Chevy?
And I chose to live.

SPEAKER_07 (27:49):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (27:50):
And in the process of choosing to live, I made
decisions that was best for me.
Um, Sterling, you might rememberwe went on a trip to the Poconos
for Val's.

SPEAKER_06 (28:03):
Since then?
This you were going through thissince then?
Yes, I remember.
That was years.

SPEAKER_00 (28:09):
Wow.
Underneath that, I must tellyou, I had no hair.
And um, I was sick as a dog.
And um Rocky will always take mywig off and kiss my boy head and
said, I love you regardless.

SPEAKER_06 (28:22):
Yeah, Rocky was there too.
Yeah, that's when Rocky hurt hisfoot that that trip.
Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_00 (28:27):
This is why when I big him up, I big him up.
And I'm you know, I'm proud tosay, you know, he was a real,
real, real, real man to me.
He loved me unconditionally,going through all that I went
through.

SPEAKER_06 (28:41):
I understand.
And I I always respected him,but I have a newfound respect
for that brother.

SPEAKER_08 (28:45):
Yeah, listen, he's a Virgo.
Rocky is just gonna say he's aVirgo.
Yeah, and these they do, we'renot perfect.
We are not perfect.
But Rocky, if you're out there,yeah, you got my respect too.
You heard me?
Yeah, so you hear so I did notknow that you um took care of my

(29:06):
cousin the way you took care ofmy cousin.
You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_06 (29:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
For real, for real.
Yeah, so to some of the uh fansout there, I just want to ask
you a few questions.
It might be a little in-depth.

SPEAKER_05 (29:16):
It's okay.

SPEAKER_06 (29:17):
Yeah, you know, like you said, you went through
chemo.
Uh what exactly could you getdescriptive to like what the
chemo experience is like?

SPEAKER_00 (29:24):
So the chemo is rough.
Chemo is rough.
Physically and mentally,physically, mentally,
emotionally, it's rough.

SPEAKER_06 (29:35):
How long did you have to go through chemo?

SPEAKER_00 (29:38):
Oh, six months.

SPEAKER_02 (29:39):
Six months?
And actually, what is it?
Like a machine in jail.

SPEAKER_00 (29:42):
Yeah, what is it?
So chemo is is drugs, of course.
Um, so you go into a room.
I I went into a room.
I'm in a room by myself a coupleof hours a day, and it's they
This was this was my vein, mychemo vein, that they would put

(30:05):
the needle inside.
They would put saline inside ofme to clean it out.
And then they would give me, andI was trying to say before, like
my first chemo experience whenthey put it in, it was like I
was having a convulsion.
Like I was just shaking, myheart was racing.
I was like just I couldn't getmyself, so they had to stop the

(30:28):
drug to like just get me, Iguess, together with it because
it was new to my systems.
And I think it just put me intoshock.
And I I didn't do well.
My first chemo, I didn't dowell.
Of course.
Um, but you know, I had to alsobefore you do chemo, you have to
do a port.
So I had to have surgery to havethey had to put something inside

(30:51):
of me.
It's a port um that they putright here.
Um, my my scars still stillstand um where they put that and
that that helps the drugs to goinside your system um to go
inside of you.
So chemo is rough on the body.
It's it's rough on your, itdrains you, you get very tired.

(31:15):
Um, chemo, um, for me at least,it took away my taste buds.
So I couldn't eat food.
Rice tastes like cardboard.
Um, chicken tastes like dirt.
Everything was just nasty.
The only thing that I could haveeaten was um, or I would drink
was a nutriment.
Um, or he would um Rocky wouldget me um insure.

(31:39):
Um, those are the only thingsthat I could have like stummer
as far as food or substance.
I couldn't really eat anything.
Everything that I like was justnasty, couldn't eat it,
couldn't, couldn't stomach it.

SPEAKER_06 (31:51):
So how long when you say chemo, like how long would
have do you have to stay hookedonto this?

SPEAKER_00 (31:55):
So you have your chemo days.
So my days was Wednesday, so Iwould have chemo on Wednesday.

unknown (32:00):
Okay.

SPEAKER_08 (32:00):
For the whole day?

SPEAKER_00 (32:02):
No, you go uh different times.
So if I go in the morning, Iwould do from like 8 to 12 or 8
to 2.

SPEAKER_02 (32:09):
There's a lot of fluids?

SPEAKER_00 (32:11):
Just you just sit there with the drip and um you
just sit there and they put itin, and you're sitting there and
it's hooked up to the machineand it's going inside your
system.
And you know, I used to bringlike a book with me or iPad or
you have the TV on or somethinglike that.
I was trying to save my hair, soum they have something called an

(32:33):
ice pack that they would put onmy head to so I would have this
big ice pack on my head to tryto keep my hair, but then after
a while I just got it was toomuch, it was it was draining on
me, and it would and it becametoo much for me.
And I just I just said if ifit's meant for me to lose my
hair, then that is the journeythat I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_02 (32:55):
Yeah.
I never um I never asked myfather.
My father started chemo.
He had um probably this is likea month now through this
prostate.
I never asked him the process.
I just never thought of it ofwhat is it, what does it look
like?
Like, you know, what is it?

SPEAKER_06 (33:12):
Why is your father taking chemo?

SPEAKER_02 (33:14):
He has prostate cancer.

SPEAKER_06 (33:15):
Your father has prostate cancer.

SPEAKER_02 (33:16):
Yeah, it's prostate cancer.
Wow.
He's been um, you know what's sobugged out is that he told me
this, this was like 20 yearsago.
22 years ago, he said that hehas prostate.

SPEAKER_06 (33:25):
Your father was diagnosed with prostate cancer
22 years ago?

SPEAKER_02 (33:28):
Yeah.
So he was telling me that um,you know, I'm I I don't know
anything about that.
I didn't know anything aboutthat.
He says the day before he wasabout to go to surgery, the
night before, he says that umI'm not going, I'm not doing
that.
I want he said I want to diewith my boots on.
But I just I never knew, I neverdid research on prostate.
I didn't know anything about it,but I just knew my father was a

(33:49):
vegetarian, so then what hestarted doing, he started doing
some other um like he startedputting his feet in um um I
forgot the name.
That's that brown, it's notalcohol, the brown bottle.
Peroxide.
He started putting his feet inperoxide, he started doing some
different things, like try tofind different remedies.
And now 20 years later, 22 yearslater, it's like it's it caught

(34:10):
up to him, like you know, um,and he's he just started um
chemo.
He started at first they didn'tthey were stopping him, denying
him, because he didn't haveMedicaid.

SPEAKER_06 (34:20):
Wow, that's uh that's another podcast.

SPEAKER_00 (34:22):
Listen, the insurance is also a kicker.
I have United Healthcare and outof pocket, um, and I think I
have pretty good insurance, butout of pocket, I I'm still
paying.
I'm still paying between chemoand then you have radiation
after when you finish chemo.

SPEAKER_06 (34:39):
Radiation too?
Yes.
I had no idea.
I thought it was optional.

SPEAKER_00 (34:45):
They when they want you to have the radiation as a
it's like a secondaryprecautionary thing.
And um same day?
No, no, no, no.
So I had chemo, I completedchemo, I had um the surgery
where I had my breast removed.
Um, and then they give you abreak in between, and then um I

(35:07):
started radiation and I startedradiation, I was doing good
radiation, and my last week ofradiation, I went into heart
failure.

SPEAKER_08 (35:20):
Damn.

SPEAKER_00 (35:20):
Absolutely, yes.

SPEAKER_08 (35:22):
Wait, so you almost died.

SPEAKER_00 (35:24):
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_08 (35:25):
How?
Like how does it cardiac arrest?

SPEAKER_00 (35:28):
No, it wasn't cardiac arrest.
Um what happened is that you gofor radiation.
I've been doing the radiation.
The radiation seems lighter thanchemo in the sense of how you do
it.
So I'm doing radiation, I'mdoing radiation, and one day I
remember it was the winter time,it was real cold outside, and me
and Rocky got into some foolishargument, was arguing.

(35:50):
And so I was in the living roomand he was in the bedroom.
And um, I just was antsy.
I was going like back and forth.
Like I couldn't sit still, wasgoing back and forth, back and
forth.
And um he said, I I wasn'ttalking to him, whatever the
reason was, and then he says,I'm gonna put you in a cab so

(36:11):
you can go um to yourappointment and um call the cab
for me and I went to do myradiation because at that point
I was able to do radiation and Iwas still able to go to work, so
I would do radiation and then goto work after.
And I got in a cab and it wassnowing and um like flakes or

(36:34):
you know, flakes and the cabmanI said, can you please open the
window because it's so hot inhere?
And he goes, You're hot, and Iwas like, Hey, yeah, please open
the window, open the window.
He opened the window and droveme because I I ever all my
treatment was at Mount SinaiHospital.
And when I got to there, I havea Louis Vuitton bag, and I had

(36:55):
the bag, and all I had in thebag was a wallet and like a
little pouch, and I couldn'thold the bag, the bag was so
heavy, so I was dragging the baginside, and the lady said to me,
Chevy in.
She goes, You know, Chevy inyou're so you know, you're such

(37:16):
a cherry person.
And I'm like, Yeah, but I don't,I don't know.
I don't feel good today.
I don't, I don't know,something's off.
I don't feel good.
She says, You okay?
And I remember there's like awall, and I was holding on to
the wall, and I said, I thinkI'm going down.
I think I'm going down.
And she ran and she got the thewheelchair, and they put me in a
wheelchair and they wheeled meto the ER.

(37:38):
I went to the ER, and when Iwent to the ER, they asked me
what was, you know, the symptomsand stuff, and I said, Oh, I had
radiation, but I I don't feelgood.
Uh something's just off.
I don't know what it is.
And they bought the machine, andthen when they did the sonogram,
she said I was drowned in alive.
My heart was filled with water.

SPEAKER_02 (37:57):
Wow.
So wait a minute, you justhappened to go to the hospital
that day?
I had treatment.
Ooh.
Wow.
Shock.
Slucky thing you had to go.

SPEAKER_06 (38:04):
Yeah, that could have gone where you left, yes.

SPEAKER_00 (38:07):
So um, I ended up being admitted.
Um, and they had to, so my myheart was filled with water, my
lungs was filled with water, Iwas basically drowned in alive.
Um, and then my um PF level,projective level of my heart
went down to 15%.

SPEAKER_06 (38:28):
Wow.
50 cent functioning?
15% of functioning of totalheart.
Yeah.
Yeah, that that that'scongestive heart failure.
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (38:37):
And then while I was in there, I had a stroke.

SPEAKER_05 (38:40):
Oh you killing you you're killing us today.

SPEAKER_08 (38:44):
So you had cancer, you had a stroke, you had all of
this going on, and you didn'treach out to your cousins at no
point in time to let us be yoursupport system where we've
always supported each other allthrough life.
You've always told me on my messups.
You've always been there likewhen I'm doing my mess ups and
you see me doing whatever, we'renot gonna say whatever, but

(39:07):
whenever you see me doingwhatever, you're like, yo,
listen, you're not being rightright now.
And you've you've you've you'vetalked to me and you've you've
brought me back on the rightdirection, and now it's a time
where you need the support morethan ever, and we're here to
support you.

SPEAKER_00 (39:24):
I understand that, Breeze.
I don't mean I don't mean to Iunderstand you.
I know that you guys would, butmy brothers and sisters and my
rock star and Rocky, he was myhe was my support system.
I don't care what anyone says,that was my support system, and

(39:46):
that's all that I needed at thattime.

SPEAKER_06 (39:49):
Okay, and it was enough because it got to the
world.
And it was enough.

SPEAKER_00 (39:53):
He was there through everything.
I had my children who I had toexplain stuff to I was about to
ask for that.
And I didn't know how to explainstuff to them.
And I have my brothers andsisters, and I I even withheld
it from my mom because my momwas sick.

SPEAKER_03 (40:12):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (40:12):
So I didn't want to put all of that burden on them.
So if you know, I'm sharing mystory to say is that when you're
going through it, everybodycould say I'm there for you and
support and all this otherstuff, but you have to go
through it because when thedoors is closed, I'm literally
by myself.

SPEAKER_07 (40:30):
No, you're right.

SPEAKER_00 (40:31):
And there's plenty of days that I cried, I laid on
the floor, I cried, I cried, Icried, I cried so much.
I would hold on to my bed and Iwould baw and I would cry, I
would cry, I would just be like,Why me?

SPEAKER_01 (40:43):
Oh God, please, why me?
You know, why are you doing thisto me?
What did I ever do?
I would bawl so much.
I had anxiety on a train.
I thought I was going crazy.
I just dropped down on a trainone day.
I was bawling so much.
So I had to go through this.

SPEAKER_00 (41:01):
I had to go through this.
I think it just makes me astronger person.
I'm just calmer now.
I'm just me.

SPEAKER_01 (41:07):
Like, so when I tell people, if you see me in a panty
and a bra, don't bother me.
Don't question me.
Don't ask me why am I wearingthis?
Don't question me why am Italking to this person?
Don't question me.
Because if you haven't walked myshoes and you haven't seen him
when I have to watch my kids andI have to tell them I don't know

(41:30):
if I'm gonna be here, you know,when I have to get up to go to
work and I go down the stairsand I just feel like I'm gonna
drop.
And I drop on 91st Street withan anxiety attack, and I had to
call my nephew, had to run outand call 911 because I thought I
was losing my mind.
And that's the hardest thing inlife.
Okay, so don't nobody questionSherry Ann.

(41:54):
Please don't nobody come up tome and ask me why I move the way
I move.
I move the way I move becauseGod gave me a second chance.
And I'm so grateful foreverything that I'm going
through that when I want todance to the floor and I want to
scream and I want to shout and Iwant to do whatever, because I
know the reason why I'm doingit.
And I know the reason why I'mgoing through, and I cut a lot

(42:17):
of things and I cut a lot ofpeople out of my life because
they weren't for me.
There's people that just was notfor me.

SPEAKER_00 (42:24):
They're all good for me when I was up and this and
cheery, and I can help them andI can do stuff.
But when I'm going throughstuff, they weren't there how I
wanted them to be there for me.
So I know what I'm goingthrough.
I'm telling you, I'm walkinghome and my life is falling
apart.

SPEAKER_01 (42:42):
My relationship is falling apart.
Everything is going wrong, andI'm just bawling and crying.
I'm crying to my in my house andI'm just bawling.
I have big kids.
I'm by myself.
If people don't understand, Ilook at myself in the mirror.
I had no chest, I had no hair.
I had teeth coming out of mymouth.

(43:03):
I'm bleeding.
I'm going through stuff.
So please.
But at this time, I had to lovemyself.
I had to fight for myself, and Ihad to figure out me.
I had to figure out a way tomake me happy.
So I do what I have to do.

SPEAKER_08 (43:22):
We want you to know that you are loved.
And we do love you.
And even though we wish we couldhave been there for you at that
time, I know it's some things inlife that people have to go
through on their own.
Because, you know, everybodythinks life is sweet, and
everybody goes through things attimes in life where you just

(43:44):
have to know.
You just gotta let people gothrough their journey.
You just have to go throughtheir journey.

SPEAKER_00 (43:47):
You gotta be supportive in different ways.
So I'm I'm just saying thispodcast to say if you know
someone, if you know someone andthey let you into their circle,
don't ask a bunch of questions.
If they ask you to hold theirhand, just hold their hands.
If they ask you for water, justgive them the water.
If they ask you to lean on them,just lean on them.

(44:08):
You know what I mean?
I mean, a lot of things happen.
I, you know, I couldn't benothing.
Like I couldn't love nobody, Icouldn't kiss Rocky.
I couldn't, you know, doanything because I'm sick.

SPEAKER_07 (44:22):
No, no.

SPEAKER_00 (44:23):
You know what I mean?
So you, you know, it I lost alot.
I lost a lot of things, youknow, in life.
And it's just I'm grateful forthe second chance.
So I know that God has somethinggood in store for me.
And I'm just saying that to allthe women out there, instead of
gossiping or saying, oh my God,well, she looks this way, or she

(44:45):
looks skinny, or she looks thisand this.
Why don't you try to figure outwhat's going on with them?
Or, you know, call somebody justbecause I didn't pick up the
phone to call, you don't knowwhat's going on in my world.
Call and find out what's goingon in their world, check up on
them, go to the walk.
It's important.
I've been going to breast cancerrarely walk for a long time

(45:07):
before I got diagnosed.
It's just more special to me todo this walk because I'm able to
walk.

SPEAKER_07 (45:14):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (45:15):
There was a point in time when I couldn't walk.

SPEAKER_07 (45:17):
Right.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (45:18):
So you know, it's like go to the walk, come out
and support somebody.

SPEAKER_06 (45:23):
Oh, we definitely there.
You know that.
We already told you.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (45:27):
Come out and do the walk and you know, support
people.

SPEAKER_06 (45:30):
What was the date again?

SPEAKER_00 (45:31):
I'm actually doing one tomorrow in Central Park,
but I'm also gonna do one inConey Island on the 26th.
So I'm asking, you know, to comeout and do the walk with me and
you know, take a moment by thewater.
And you know, if you if you lovesomebody, give them a hug to see
that they're here and show themthat you know you support them
and you know it's a journey.

(45:53):
And don't jump on the phone whenyou see the podcast.
Oh gosh, I didn't know that shehad this and I don't know.
Don't do that.
You know, do something special,you know.
You know, reach out to somebody.
If you know somebody, go visitthem, you know, talk to them,
keep them company because it isa dark place.
It's a dark place.

(46:13):
And a lot of people said to me,you know, Chevy and you such a
strong girl, you stronger.

SPEAKER_06 (46:17):
I believe down.

SPEAKER_00 (46:19):
I broke down a lot of times behind closed doors.
I broke down, it's like, oh, youa bad girl, you could catch any
guy, da da da.
I couldn't get nobody because Ididn't know if I could catch
myself.
So, you know, understand me andunderstand where I'm coming from
and understand my journey.
So if I skin myself, my nose upat a guy I have every right to

(46:42):
right now.
I have every right.
I work hard.
I've had four and a half surgerytrying to get myself back to
being me.
I have another surgery coming upagain.
It's gonna be my fifth surgerygoing through this another
surgery, another surgery.
And I work out, I got my breastback, I got, you know, I can

(47:03):
smile again.
I gotta go pay thousands ofdollars to get a whole new mouth
of teeth because the back teeth,they're all had to get brush
your teeth.
You have a teeth in yourtoothbrush kind of situation.

SPEAKER_06 (47:15):
So you've really been through it, cuz I have to
do it.

SPEAKER_00 (47:17):
I've been through it, and all those things are
fixable, but once you're gone,you can't get that back.
So, you know, if somebody reallyloves you, they're gonna stick
it out with you.
Only the good last, that's how Ilook at it.

SPEAKER_06 (47:30):
Yeah, and that goes to show that out there you
never, you know, some peoplejust look at you and they
dislike you or they envy youbecause you look a certain way,
but you never know what painthat person's going through,
what demons they're fightingbehind closed doors, you know?
Because everybody comes out andthey me too.
I I put out that straight face,but you know, everybody has
issues when they go home.

(47:51):
So that's just it goes to showjust don't judge people, just
enjoy them while they're here.

SPEAKER_00 (47:56):
Yeah, and respect people too.
I I'm big on that.
Respect, respect people's umthought, respect people's
privacy.
Yes, you know, if somebody tellsyou don't share, don't share.
Maybe they have their reasonswhy they don't want you to
share.
And when they want you to share,then share and share on a good
note and and do that.

(48:17):
You know, I had someone said tome, Well, you know, your
friendship changed because youdidn't call me.
I don't have time to callsomebody, and you know if I can
make a phone call the next day.
So, you know, you could pick upthe phone, you know, my you know
my number, you know, you know myaddress, you can bang on my
door.
So, you know, I just learned tojust leave those negative things

(48:39):
alone and I'm rebuilding my lifeslowly.
Um, I have good people in mylife, and I have other good
people out there that check upon me, that don't leave me.
They they didn't leave me out inthe dirt, um, guiding me.
I'm building up myself, I'mbuilding me up.
My boss is very good to me.

SPEAKER_06 (48:57):
Yes, bless.

SPEAKER_00 (48:58):
You know, and my brothers and sisters, I can't
love them anymore than I lovethem.
I love each and every one ofthem so much, you know, and I
can call them, you know,Bernice, Roger, Royston,
Michelle.
I can call their names.
I know all of them.
I love them.
That support system is I don'tknow, more than everything.

(49:20):
My best friend, Marissa, oh mygod, she is Marissa.
I don't know, my world.
That girl got my back upsidedown, left, right.
And my boo, Shireen.
I love her so much.
Um, and she just always, always,always, she was at my door, at
my back and call.
And she never left me.

(49:41):
She's a true cousin and a truefriend, and I really love her
and appreciate.
And last, before we go, Rocky.
You know, I don't I'm saying itpublicly.
Those who know him, I would notcall his government name, but
those who know him as Rockyknows who this man um forget
anything and everything.
When I tell you this, what I'vebeen through, this man has had

(50:03):
my back, my front, my side, mytoe, my everything.
He's held me down, he's beenthere, and I never really say
how grateful I am for him.
It was hard on him.
It was not easy as a man justgoing through this.
He didn't have to, and he stuckit out so publicly.

(50:25):
I want to say thank you so muchfor being there for me and never
forsaking me, never thinking nomatter what you're gone through
in life, no matter where youwent, you always came back and
made sure I was good.
I'm always gonna be grateful tothat, no matter where we go in
life.
I'm always gonna remember thosethings because that touched me
more than anything else.

(50:46):
And to any person that's goingthrough something, don't run out
and leave your girl, don't runout and leave your wife, don't
run out on her because thatalone, we're going through
something we feel like we're notthe same beautiful person that
we probably are, you know.
Um, you change, you know.

(51:06):
I got real dark, you know, um,my nose, everything changed, you
know.
So it's you have to look at thegirl as the inner beauty that
that person has because somepeople's physical part change,
you know, and they're notthey're not gonna be able to be
physical with you.
They're not gonna be able to doa lot of things that they wanted

(51:28):
to patience.
Because you know, I had my bonesa week.

SPEAKER_02 (51:34):
Your story's empowering.
It's very empowering andpowerful at the same time.

SPEAKER_08 (51:39):
Listen, your story reminds me of what my mother
went through when she wentthrough her battle weekends.
Unfortunately, she didn't win.
God bless her soul.
But it's what she went throughand what I what we had to watch
her go through.

(52:00):
Excuse me.

SPEAKER_06 (52:01):
Um speak your truth, bro.

SPEAKER_08 (52:04):
It was a lot to be there and be a son and watch
mother go through what she wentthrough.
And I had to be the strong onebecause she expected me to be
strong.
Like one day, I was crying ather bedside and she was like,

(52:26):
Yeah, why are you crying?
I'm like, mama, because I'mabout to lose you.
She's like, Stop you crying, yo,go there and be strong for your
brothers and sisters.
And I didn't know how to act, Ididn't know how to respond.
So hearing your story justbrings back um a lot of a lot of

(52:47):
emotion, a lot of shit that Itry to repress.
Look, I'm glad that you're here.
Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 (52:59):
I'm glad to be here.

SPEAKER_06 (53:00):
And we're glad you're here.
You were meant to be here.
That's how you ended up heretoday.

SPEAKER_00 (53:04):
Yeah, we were, you know, we spent uh and I told him
that.
We spend the whole, we spend thewhole day together, and you
know, um and it was a good day.
You know, we laughed and wejoked and we had a good day, and
like I told everyone last timethat I wanted to share my story
because I think it's just timethat people have to know that

(53:27):
it's not a a secret or you'retrying to hide or you're trying
to do things, but I think Imentioned that to Sterling.
When you don't know how what'sgoing on with yourself, it's
hard to explain it to somebodyelse.
Understand more than you know,you know, it's hard to nobody
understand what you're goingthrough or why you feel the way
that you feel.
So it's hard to come out andtell somebody, this is what I'm
going through, this is what I'mgoing through.

(53:49):
You know, you you just don'tknow.
So everybody, I think, beentouched in some different ways
by this kind of disease.
Oh man.
So please just support peopleand and and you know, this life
that we're living, it it's it'sdifferent lessons in it.
It's different lessons, but Ican tell you that I'm not the

(54:12):
same Sherry Ann.
I don't I don't I don't thinkI'll ever be the same Sherry
Ann.
Um I'm and I'm saying my realname.
I am I am stronger, stronger.
I'm stronger than I and I lookat life so differently.
Yes, I look at life sodifferently as I still go
through as I every time I walkthrough that OR.

SPEAKER_01 (54:38):
I always say a prayer when they hold my hand
and and Dr.
Torino goes, you know, your bodyis so beautiful, you you you're
turning out so beautiful.
And I always always hand likethis, and I say, Dr.
Torino, just make me come out onthe other side.

SPEAKER_00 (54:56):
I don't even care about the body because there's
so much needles I'm hooked upto, and so much things that I
you know every time I go throughthe doors to those, then I see
the OR and I see all of that,and it's just so much.
So I don't really care about thecomplements of the body, I just

(55:19):
want to be able to come out onthe other side.
And every time I book thesurgery, I get nervous.
Of course, you know, becausehere it is, another part of my
body being pulled, you know,they pull fat from here, they
pull fat from here, they pullfat from here, just trying to
make me, you know, be me again.

(55:39):
And it's just you gotta.
I'm just I'm grateful for theteam that worked on me.
I'm grateful for the people, forall the surgeons, big up to her
medical team.
Yeah, and I'm grateful for theprayers, all the prayers,
abundance of people who pray forme.
And um, I'm just grateful forlife, you know.

(56:00):
I'm grateful for my beautifulchildren.
Oh, my Jaden, my JJ, my son, youknow.

SPEAKER_06 (56:07):
I did a great job raising those kids.
How old are they?

SPEAKER_00 (56:10):
Oh, my daughter.
So my oldest Saraya, she is 29.
My handsome king, he's 23.
Yes, and my beautiful princessMichaela, she's gonna be 18 in a
couple of weeks.
So, as a single mom, I thinkI've done it all.

SPEAKER_06 (56:31):
Wow.

SPEAKER_08 (56:32):
Yeah, look, we love you.
Yes, we're happy that you'restill here.
You know, I'm glad that yousurvived and young mom.

SPEAKER_00 (56:40):
You know, young mom.
I remember y'all was like, oh,she had a baby, yo.
But look at them now.

SPEAKER_08 (56:47):
Look, you you have surpassed everyone else.
You know, watch everybody andhow they raise their kids and
whatever, and you've done anexemplary job.
Thank you.
You've done a job way beyond asingle mother's job.

SPEAKER_06 (57:02):
As a single mother.

SPEAKER_08 (57:03):
As a single mother.
Thank you.
You get what I'm saying?
That's why all our prayers,everything is with you.
I'm glad that the Lord saw fitto keep you here now, to still
have you amongst us and be withus and around us.
And I swear to you, as yourcousin, anything in life that we
do, we're gonna do it to thebest of our ability, you know,

(57:26):
together.
And I'm gonna make sure thatwhatever I have to do to make
your life better, or whatever,whatever life has to come, it's
gonna be better for all of us.
You get what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 (57:38):
I appreciate it.
The love is real.
The love is real in the show.
Thank you, Monty, for today.
Thank you, Sterl, for giving me.
Yeah, um, thank you, Breeze, forcalling me when you did call me,
because then you know wewouldn't have been together.
So, you know, you see, Godworks.

SPEAKER_05 (57:55):
He wasn't supposed to be here today, but he ended
up here today.
When I heard, I said, listen,come on the guest panel today
and look at this.
Yeah, look at his testimony.

SPEAKER_00 (58:03):
And also, you know, before we go, just big up my
cardiologist, Dr.
Naeem.
Because I walked in, she said tome, I wasn't supposed to work.
She's the head cardiologist atMount Sinai.
She said, I wasn't supposed towork today, and she got me, and
she got my um heart back to 50%.
Wow, and um, I'm still going andI'm still she's still working on

(58:26):
me, and she's still going, andshe is the best um ever.
I listen to her fully, and I doeverything, I don't do a lot of
things, so health is well.
Just a question.

SPEAKER_06 (58:41):
Your heart is only operating at 50%?

SPEAKER_00 (58:43):
50% now.

SPEAKER_06 (58:44):
What is the optimum level?
What level is it supposed to beat?

SPEAKER_00 (58:46):
Well, 50 to 100 is good.

SPEAKER_06 (58:48):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (58:49):
50 is 100.
What's ago was this?
Um, I made 50% at my last visit,which was three months ago.
Wow.
And um, when she first diagnosedme, she said usually people
don't get they heart don't getback so quick, so quick.
Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (59:08):
So that was after your um last um you said cardiac
arrest.
What did you say you had?

SPEAKER_00 (59:13):
So when I went into heart failure, yeah, um, I was
at 15%.

SPEAKER_02 (59:18):
15.

SPEAKER_00 (59:18):
And I left the hospital at 20%, and I was on a
lot of medications and thingslike that, and then I just
started, you know, low saltdiet, um, eating a certain way
and doing certain things, um,trying to exercise.
Um, for me, I had to do a lot ofsurgeries for breast

(59:39):
reconstruction and things likethat.
So exercise couldn't be one ofthe things that I could do.
Um, so I just tried to water hasbecome my best friend.
Right.
Um, and you know, just I try towalk.
So I couldn't walk before frommy house to Utica Avenue.
I couldn't make it up the hill.

(59:59):
So now I can go up and down thehill.
Nice, nice, nice, nice, nice.
You know, I'm I'm grateful.
I'm grateful.
I could dance in the parties.
I can, you know, testimony.
Definitely a lot of things.
So I'm grateful for her for justholding me by my hand and you
know um guiding me through thisprocess.

(01:00:20):
So grateful and thank you guys.
And I hope my story helpssomebody else.
Let it resonate with something.
I hope that, you know, ladies,just check yourself.
The bodies do go together.
So the breasts and you know,your vagina area does go.
So please go to get your annualcheckup, check your cervix,

(01:00:41):
check, you know, go get yourbreast mammogram.
Don't just say mammogram.
Please tell them that you alsowant an ultrasound to do on the
breasts as well.
Um, check under your armpits,hold your hand behind, lay back
and and rub in a in a circle andcheck all around to make sure.
If you're unsure, you can pullit up and it'll guide you and do

(01:01:03):
it.
Check every time you come outthe shower.
You know, um, look, things thatI've learned is weight gain.
If you notice that you'regaining um rapid weight, go and
check that out.
If you're losing rapid weight,check that out.
Um, if your balance is off, um,check it out.
Um, those are little things thatI've lost I've learned along the

(01:01:24):
way that um said that somethingwas off with me.
Um constantly urinating, checkit out.
Um also look at the color ofyour urine, your urine when
you're in, you know, when you'refinished before you flush, you
know, if it's too bright or youknow, if it has um any kind of

(01:01:45):
irritation, anything like that.
Just check.
Um, just be my whole moral is bevigilant.
Be vigilant, be, you know, ifyou're not sure, ask a question.
Um, talk to your doctor, knowyour doctor, educate.
If you have girl children, talkto them, um, take them to the
doctor early and just check.
This doesn't run in my family atall.

(01:02:06):
I did genetics and it didn't runin my family, but it happened to
me.
So it could happen to anyone.
Right.
Um so please, ladies, please,please, I beg you and go out and
walk, please.
Black women, please go out andwalk, talk to your neighbors,
talk to your friend, stopgossiping about each other, stop
cursing each other out, stopbreaking each other down, and

(01:02:29):
just go out and take care ofeach other.
This we only have one go around,so just make it count.

SPEAKER_06 (01:02:34):
Yeah, yeah.
And on that same note, blackmen, same thing goes for you.
Yes, get out there, because youknow as black men, we scared of
the girls.
Yeah, you know, black men wescared to go to the doctor, man.
Go to the doctor, man.
Stop being scared, yeah, stopbeing a punk, go to the doctor
early.
I recommend from age 35.
Go get all your shit checkedout, man.

(01:02:55):
Yeah, stop being scared, man.
We don't need to lose any moreblack fathers than any more
black mothers.
Take care of ourselves.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:02):
Yes, all right.
I concur.
I can I concur, man.
This is our powerful, powerfulepisode, man.
And um, I thank y'all.
Thank you for sharing.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:12):
And I wore my sweatshirt, and Sterling can
read it out loud before we go onmeeting.
And I wrap my hair.

SPEAKER_03 (01:03:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:19):
But I do have my real hair back, and it's back
here.
God is good.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:24):
I wear my pink for myself.
My scars tell a story.
They are a reminder of the timewhen life tried to break me, but
failed.
Breast cancer awareness.
Let's go, guys.
Let's go.
Nice, man.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:42):
Yeah.
Yes, man.
You know, like the uh I likedyour testimony and also hearing
um Bes talk about his mother andhis testimony.
You know, it's like people needto um take heed and and just
don't just don't look at it justfor as a month, man.
Let's make this like 12 monthsthat people need to appreciate
it.

SPEAKER_06 (01:04:00):
You're right.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:00):
We just hold it to the month, yeah.
So, you know, this is the youcome out.
Anyone else got anything to say?

SPEAKER_06 (01:04:06):
Health is wealth.
Always remember that.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:09):
Yes.
Health is wealth, man.
I love you all.
Yeah, we love you all, and thankyou all for sharing.
Thank you for coming, man.

SPEAKER_04 (01:04:14):
Breeze, thank you for coming here.
Be part of it.

SPEAKER_08 (01:04:17):
Listen, man.
Anytime y'all need me on here.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:19):
All right, yeah.
So if anybody else has anytestimonies and they want to
share, um, you know, hit anybodyup on this panel, you know.
Yeah, this is the Your OpinionDoesn't Matter podcast, and we
are out.
Blessed everybody.