Join Cheryl's Fight Against Rare Cancer

Here's Cheryl's story in the words of her loving husband, Herb Cobb.

Help this tortoise win the race

Cheryl Cobb and I have been happily married 36 years, and she is my favorite person on the planet. We have raised two sons together and have careers we enjoy. We are Christians and believe God and the many prayers of friends and family have been carrying us through this journey.

My lovely wife began experiencing severe pain in October 2023. After a month of worsening symptoms and visiting doctors seeking relief, X-rays and CTs showed tumors in her pelvis and lung. Biopsies and pathology led to the specific, devastating diagnosis of Stage 4 Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma (UPS). This cancer is exceptionally rare, and the cause is virtually unknown. Metastatic sarcoma prognosis is grim, but we’re trying to avoid being terrified, and to faithfully move ahead.

Her first oncologist referred us to the sarcoma experts at Siteman Cancer Center (Washington University/ Barnes-Jewish Hospital) in St. Louis, MO, for care. I took months of unpaid leave (FMLA) from work to stay with Cheryl as she came to need constant care. She was admitted to the hospital for pain management, then began months of treatments.

Initially, Cheryl had rounds of chemotherapy, consisting of round-the-clock infusions of powerful and cruel pharmaceuticals, leaving her very weak. Chemotherapy was halted in early January as Cheryl’s body struggled to tolerate it.

We are so grateful that genetic testing revealed Cheryl was an excellent candidate for immunotherapy. She began this therapy in late January and has been responding well. March and April have brought us to radiation treatments while continuing the immunotherapy. Chemo and immunotherapy have caused the tumors to shrink. We’re hoping radiation has the same result.

Sarcoma tumors require surgical removal as the eventual treatment. We have been in consultation with Cheryl’s surgeon and are working toward scheduling her first surgery.

We learned that surgery will likely leave her using a brace and wheelchair, so we began making changes to our home to accommodate her future needs. We are creating a wheelchair-accessible bathroom and bedroom from what had been our utility room and home office. During the work, we discovered foundation issues that require correction, doubling the cost of the project.

Since this journey began, Cheryl has adopted a “tortoise” mentality of taking things slowly and one day at a time. She had spent her entire adult life in constant motion, like the proverbial hare… tirelessly working to serve others… at work, at home and through various volunteer opportunities with the Boy Scouts and our church. However, Cheryl realized early that she had to slow down and focus on her health, steadily facing each challenge. In the story, the tortoise wins the race.

Her wonderful friends and co-workers generously raised funds to help with her care by selling “Team Tortoise” T-shirts and collecting donations. Those funds have been used to start work on her new bathroom.

We started this journey with our six-month emergency fund, and carefully created a budget to cover household expenses, medical equipment, deductibles, and copayments. Although I’m back to work, which covers our daily living expenses, our savings will be gone soon because of the additional financial hit from the foundation repair work. However, Cheryl’s medical journey continues and will require more than we have in our savings. Recognizing this has led me to understand it is time to ask for help.

People have offered to help us with anything we need, and Cheryl and I have discussed how to respond. Mostly, we have asked for much-needed prayers or a friend to sit with her when I need to run errands. With our savings dwindling, our answer to this question is changing. We still need prayers but have decided GoFundMe is also part of the answer. GoFundMe allows financial gifts as small as $5, providing an avenue for folks to help Cheryl in a meaningful way that will have a direct impact for her. The funds raised will help to cover the expenses of Cheryl’s continuing medical journey.

Initially, it will help cover expenses incurred while we are at the hospital supporting Cheryl during the surgery to remove the pelvic tumor and the associated rehabilitation, (travel, hotel, fuel, meals and dog care) She is then facing thoracic/lung surgery and rehabilitation with those same expenses.

Daily life after these surgeries will include needed equipment (wheelchair, brace, ramps, fixtures, etc.). In truth, this sarcoma diagnosis will require life-long care and we don’t know what’s around the corner.

We feel blessed that Cheryl’s medical team has managed her pain and continues treating her cancer. She’s gone from being bed-ridden and very weak, to working remotely part-time and being able to do some things around the house. She was elated by the two opportunities we’ve had to worship at our church! She is not independent yet, so we make sure someone is with her all the time. Our new normal is very different than a year ago, and each day brings new challenges. We know continued prayers and the support of friends and family is essential to our journey. God is carrying us through this season of our lives.