{"id":1095,"date":"2017-09-29T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T13:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1095"},"modified":"2017-10-11T10:53:30","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T14:53:30","slug":"cheryl-heller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1095","title":{"rendered":"Cheryl Heller"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seeking the Silver Lining<\/em><\/h1>\n

By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The tale of local business owner and four-time cancer survivor Cheryl Heller\u2019s battles with the disease starts out like many other busy women\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was concentrating on so many other parts of my life at that point, that I didn\u2019t take care of myself,\u201d Cheryl said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think about me.\u201d<\/p>\n

It had been eight years since Cheryl had visited her gynecologist. The last time she was there, the doctor found some irregularities. But then, as it happens, life had gotten in the way.<\/p>\n

Years later, after going through a difficult personal period, Cheryl decided she wanted to take back her life. Among other changes, that meant developing the yearly habit of getting a physical and pap smear.<\/p>\n

A week after getting the exam done, her doctor called with devastating news. Cheryl had uterine cancer.<\/p>\n

She had a hysterectomy, but only six months later, began experiencing other symptoms. Then, one morning, Cheryl found she couldn\u2019t stand up and had pain in her side. The doctors first thought she had appendicitis, but after tests, found it was colon cancer. She was assigned an oncologist, and underwent treatment.<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t the end of the battle. During a doctor\u2019s appointment only six months later, she found she had cancer in her descending colon.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, there\u2019s cancer number three,\u201d Cheryl said.<\/p>\n

Then, three years after that, during her yearly checkup, the doctors found malt lymphoma. Cheryl and her team \u2014 \u201can extremely amazing group of doctors,\u201d she said with pride \u2014 fought that, too.<\/p>\n

To date, she hasn\u2019t had an occurrence in 10 years.<\/p>\n

If you met Cheryl for the first time \u2014 or even second, third or fourth time \u2014 chances are you wouldn\u2019t realize she\u2019s a cancer survivor. She had cancer, but cancer didn\u2019t have her, she explained.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say the experience she went through didn\u2019t affect her, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt changes you forever,\u201d Cheryl said.<\/p>\n

She admits that while it may now appear she took everything in stride, she\u2019s had her \u201cnot-so-heroic moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you have a choice,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have a choice about anything that happens to you in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheryl\u2019s choice involved her faith. There were days she would cry and wonder why she\u2019d gotten cancer not just once or twice, but four times. Sometimes she would even question her beliefs, she said.<\/p>\n

To work through everything, Cheryl embarked on a very personal journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to honestly say I made a choice to find out exactly who [God] was,\u201d she said, explaining that while she\u2019d believed since she was 16 years old, it wasn\u2019t until her battles with cancer that she found what her own definition of faith and God meant to her.<\/p>\n

Now that cancer is 10 years behind her, Cheryl is, in a way, grateful for the struggles she went through. The experience helped her to grow, she explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose four really dark times, hard times, in my life served to not only heal me physically, but heal me emotionally,\u201d she said. \u201cHeal my soul, not just my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the last decade, Cheryl hasn\u2019t been very vocal about those years she battled with cancer. While some people \u201cwar loudly,\u201d others \u201cwar quietly,\u201d she said. But people who have needed to glean support from her journey do tend to cross her path, she said.<\/p>\n

There are days she does worry about her health. When the time comes for doctors\u2019 appointments, she does wonder. But she tries to be intentional with her life, and remember what a blessing she\u2019s been given, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now, do I ever miss a yearly checkup?\u201d Cheryl said. \u201cNope!\u201d SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

Cheryl owns The Savvy Chick, located at 1 W. Genesee St. in Baldwinsville. For more information, visit facebook.com\/thesavvychickboutique<\/a>. She also founded A Cause to Celebrate, an annual event that aims to raise funds and awareness for local nonprofits. To find out more, visit bvillecausetocelebrate.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seeking the Silver Lining By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm The tale of local business owner and four-time cancer survivor Cheryl Heller\u2019s battles with the disease starts out like many other busy women\u2019s stories. \u201cI was concentrating on so many other parts of my life at that point, that I didn\u2019t take care…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[156,390,392,133,356,262,391],"class_list":["post-1095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-alexis-emm","tag-cause-to-celebrate","tag-cheryl-heller","tag-lorna-oppedisano","tag-october-2017","tag-syracuse-woman-magazine","tag-the-savvy-chick"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Alexis-Emm-Photo-Syracuse-Headshot-Photographers-4.jpg?fit=5200%2C3436&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":962,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=962","url_meta":{"origin":1095,"position":0},"title":"Purpose Farm","author":"Staff","date":"July 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Living with a Purpose By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm \u201cMy earliest memory in life is riding a rocking horse nonstop. My parents could not get me off of that thing for years,\u201d said Sandra Seabrook, the president and founder of Purpose Farm. 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That\u2019s how I try to teach,\u201d Syracuse City School District teacher Jenniffer Benedetto said. \u201cI educate and inspire with that mindset, with love and determination.\u201d Jenniffer didn\u2019t always dream of being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photo-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photo-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photo-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photo-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photo-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1595,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1595","url_meta":{"origin":1095,"position":2},"title":"Linda Lovig","author":"Staff","date":"March 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Birth of Syracuse Midwives By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm\u00a0 When Syracuse native Linda Lovig moved with her family to Flagstaff, Ariz., she wanted to do something for her community, and decided to get certified as an EMT. 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