Meet Sylvia Schierberl...
Well, the book has been creating and experiencing some wonderful adventures and this is yet another one! This one is also very dear to my heart as the book stops in Sunny Southern California for a visit with a very dear friend!
Meet Sylvia Schierberl. As you can see from her big smile and bright eyes, she is a wonderful person! Warm, funny, helpful, always happy and just lights up any room! I had the privilege of meeting Sylvia in Sandy Finestone support group. It is the same support group I had attended when I was going through chemo, but had not been back to visit for a while. With this group dear to my heart, I had spoken to Sandy and asked if I could stop by and speak to the group about finding some gals that might be interested in being in the music video that I had written and was getting ready to produce. From across the room, I could see Sylvia and her cousin Debbie just beaming! They were laughing, giggling and whispering back and forth and from that moment, I knew I had found the right gals for the parts and before I could even make my way to them after the group, they had caught up with me and asked to be a part of it. The rest is history! Debbie was in the midst of chemo and is our star in the video along with Michelle Bolden and Sylvia was an extra, filling in were ever needed and helping Debbie every step of the way! It just warmed my heart and made the video even more special! And they have supported me since! I consider myself very blessed.
Debbie & Sylvia paddling with the NAC Dragon Boat Team for the Video
Well, that was how we met and this is Sylvia's story of her journey through cancer. In 2006 Sylvia was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 43. Sylvia's cancer was Ductal Carcinoma Insitu dubbed the "best" cancer ...if there is such a thing, and she was left with the option of a lumpectomy and radiation or a mastectomy. After watching her cousin Debbie go through the same situation just three years earlier, she opted for a mastectomy taking the worry away from having cancer in that breast again. With her husband nicknaming her remaining breast "Winky" for reason we will let them keep private and Sylvia nicknaming it "Betty Boop" life went on with their humor intact. After a year of carrying around what she fondly called her "Boulder Holder" (her prosthesis), and having it fall out while swimming and dealing with the heat of carrying it around during the hot summer, she started her journey of reconstructed surgery. Feeling that this was the best thing that she ever did, Sylvia got back to feeling like her beautiful self once again.
Three years passed with life good and "Betty Boop" and her new partner living life and moving forward when Debbie, Sylvia's cousin was once again diagnosed with her second bout of cancer. This time however, things were different. Debbie's cancer had come back more aggressive making it a tougher protocol for chemo and this time, things were different. Debbie decided to be tested for the BRCA gene which came back positive, making it almost certain that other females in her family had the same chance, including Sylvia.
The BRCA gene is a gene mutation giving women who are diagnosed with this gene up to a 60% risk of developing breast cancer and a 55% risk of developing ovarian cancer.
Sylvia, with the support of her husband and Debbie, was tested for the BRCA gene having the test come back positive. After eight long months of deciding the best approach to dealing with this news, Sylvia and her husband decided a prophylactic mastectomy or preventative surgery was the right decision for them. So after singing "Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie" in the O.R. with the nurses before her surgery leaving Nurse Christy to say "In my 25 years of being an O.R. Nurse, no one has ever belted out a tune like that before surgery, I will always remember you", Sylvia said good-bye to "Betty Boop" and is currently doing just fine. This surgery has taken Sylvia's chances of getting breast cancer from 60-80% down to 1% taking an incrediable load off of her shoulders! I know as with everyone that this book comes across, we wish Sylvia well and a life filled with happiness, and of course... I will keep you posted on the nickname of the new addition to their family!
Much Love, Support, Laughter and Well Wishes for a Beautiful Lady and Friend!
