Sharron Kerber loves being a nurse at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Hospital at Medical City Plano.
“I wouldn’t do anything else, ever, but be an oncology nurse,” she said.
The nurse who was born to care for cancer patients became a cancer patient herself in early May 2021.
“I had no signs. No symptoms. A routine mammogram came back a little suspicious,” she explained.
A biopsy confirmed that she had breast cancer. The news came just a few days before Mother’s Day.
“I only heard, ‘I have cancer,’” her husband Jeff said. “From there it was a panic.”
Sharron promised him, “We got this.”
“She’s been the one who held me together,” Jeff said.
Sharron developed a strategy for seeing which doctors and when. Chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and reconstructive surgery were all performed within a few weeks. However, she continued to treat others despite her exhausting treatment.
“Going to work while having cancer and taking care of these patients, that kept me sane,” Sharron said.
“I can recite things from a textbook and tell you what kind of side effects you’re going to have that I learned from nursing school, but it’s very different going through it myself. I really get it now. I think it’s made me definitely a better nurse.”
Jeff wanted to honor his strong wife by nominating her for a Little Wish. On a Zoom call with WFAA, he read her a letter that revealed her surprise.
“Your Little Wish from Sam Pack Auto Group includes $3,000 in gift cards for things like gas and home repairs and tickets to see Hamilton,” Jeff read. Sharron gasped. “I’m in shock, I’m not usually speechless, but you got me on this one!” she said.
Sharron is cancer-free now, but she still needs several surgeries.
Even for insurance-covered families, cancer can be a financial burden, and the Kerbers believe the gift cards will help.
Jeff has been at every doctor’s appointment and chemotherapy treatment with his wife for the past 22 years. She may be the nurse and the patient, but they are both fighting this battle.
“We started this together, we’re going to finish it the same way,” Jeff said.
