Cheryl Williams

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

Thank you for taking time to visit my site on Caring Bridge and for your care and love you have shown to me.  I am in awe of the support that I have received from family, friends, coworkers and people who do not know me personally.

On February 10, 2017, I was informed by my primary care physician that I had stage two to three breast cancer.  After consulting with two physicians about my cancer treatment, my husband Bob and I decided the best place to receive my treatment would be the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Midwestern Regional Medical Center in Zion, IL.  We were impressed with their holistic process for treating and managing cancer.  The physicians at CTCA recommended a mastectomy as the cancer was so extensive in one breast.  My husband and I decided the best approach would be a double mastectomy as there was a suspicious spot in the other breast.  

I am currently scheduled for a double mastectomy with reconstruction on April 5.  We have been advised that it will be a five to six hour surgery.  I will be in the hospital one to two days, most likely one day based on the typical post-operative outcomes per the physician team.  My next steps after the surgery will be based on pathology reports from the removed tumors and sentinel node biopsy whether or not I will need to have chemotherapy or radiation.

For those who don't know me, I am a wife and mother of three.  My husband Bob and I got married last year in June.  This is a second marriage for both of us.  Bob is an amazing husband who has been my rock through many challenges.  He has lovingly taken in my three children Jordan (19 years old and turning 20 in April), Jonah (17 years old and turning 18 in May) and Molly (15 years old).  Bob, my children and I currently live in Vernon Hills, IL.

Professionally, I am a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, and chef.  I work for my professional organization and have been a contributing professor for over six years at Kendall College in the Culinary Arts program.  I have enjoyed facilitating the management of other people's health and educating my patients/clients and students throughout my career.  It has been very challenging for my to allow others to take care of me, as I have always taken care of others.  I truly believe that through this situation God will help me to learn how to accept support and care from others.

I want to say I am in awe of the support I have received from my neighbors in the great Next Deerpath neighborhood website, my family, my wonderful colleagues at my current and former workplaces, and my church family at The Chapel I Mundelein, IL.

Thank you all again for your love, support, and care.  I appreciate that you have chosen to stay informed about my journey through breast cancer treatment.

Warmest Regards,

Cheryl