Surviving cancer treatment deserves a celebration, and what better way to celebrate than to get married? That’s what Sheri Shaw-James did after she recovered from squamous cell carcinoma of the rectum at age 70 (The Washington Post).
At the time of her diagnosis, Sheri was in a new relationship with 77-year-old Bill James. To put it in her words, “…of all the gentlemen [she’d] met, Bill seemed like the one who would be [her] friend for the rest of [her] life. [She] always felt comfortable with him” (The Washington Post). When diagnosed with cancer, Sheri tried to break up with Bill to spare him the experience and to free him to do whatever he wanted, but Bill refused. “I wanted to be there to support her through it, no matter how long it took” (The Washington Post), he said. The two worked together to find the best treatment for Sheri.
Sheri eventually settled on the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and with three months’ worth of clothing packed in Bill’ car, the two headed 1,200 miles to Houston. Upon arrival, the two checked into The Ballard House, a free housing complex for long-term treatment patients. The treatments started almost right away, with radiation and chemotherapy around the clock 5 days a week. COVID-19 rules prevented Bill from accompanying Sheri, but he stayed by the treatment center the whole time.
Over time, Sheri started to bond with her oncologists. “There is such a deep connection you feel to the people who are with you at the lowest point in your life,” she said (The Washington Post). She traded stories of her grandchildren with her radiation oncologist, Emma B. Holliday, and with her other oncologist, Van Karlyle Morris, she shared her search of her biological family, being an adopted infant.
Sheri finished the last of her radiation treatments two months later, and Bill gifted Dr. Holliday with flowers, grateful that she had cured Sheri. Another two months later, she was declared cancer-free, and Bill proposed in January 2023. Sheri accepted. As they started planning, Sheri knew that she wanted the two doctors that gave her another chance at life to be there. “We get a lot of hard questions as oncologists, but this was probably the easiest one to answer”, Morris commented when asked about the request. On June 11, with Morris on her right and Holliday on her left, Sheri walked down the aisle and got married to Bill.
Link to article: https://eb18600f7bb2916037f5ee8e636ce199.cdn.bubble.io/f1690124022693x847160067378327500/Cancer%20patient%20marries%2C%20walked%20down%20aisle%20by%20oncologists%20at%20wedding%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf
At the time of her diagnosis, Sheri was in a new relationship with 77-year-old Bill James. To put it in her words, “…of all the gentlemen [she’d] met, Bill seemed like the one who would be [her] friend for the rest of [her] life. [She] always felt comfortable with him” (The Washington Post). When diagnosed with cancer, Sheri tried to break up with Bill to spare him the experience and to free him to do whatever he wanted, but Bill refused. “I wanted to be there to support her through it, no matter how long it took” (The Washington Post), he said. The two worked together to find the best treatment for Sheri.
Sheri eventually settled on the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and with three months’ worth of clothing packed in Bill’ car, the two headed 1,200 miles to Houston. Upon arrival, the two checked into The Ballard House, a free housing complex for long-term treatment patients. The treatments started almost right away, with radiation and chemotherapy around the clock 5 days a week. COVID-19 rules prevented Bill from accompanying Sheri, but he stayed by the treatment center the whole time.
Over time, Sheri started to bond with her oncologists. “There is such a deep connection you feel to the people who are with you at the lowest point in your life,” she said (The Washington Post). She traded stories of her grandchildren with her radiation oncologist, Emma B. Holliday, and with her other oncologist, Van Karlyle Morris, she shared her search of her biological family, being an adopted infant.
Sheri finished the last of her radiation treatments two months later, and Bill gifted Dr. Holliday with flowers, grateful that she had cured Sheri. Another two months later, she was declared cancer-free, and Bill proposed in January 2023. Sheri accepted. As they started planning, Sheri knew that she wanted the two doctors that gave her another chance at life to be there. “We get a lot of hard questions as oncologists, but this was probably the easiest one to answer”, Morris commented when asked about the request. On June 11, with Morris on her right and Holliday on her left, Sheri walked down the aisle and got married to Bill.
Link to article: https://eb18600f7bb2916037f5ee8e636ce199.cdn.bubble.io/f1690124022693x847160067378327500/Cancer%20patient%20marries%2C%20walked%20down%20aisle%20by%20oncologists%20at%20wedding%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf
