LEBANON, TENN. – May 21, 2014 – Being a mother, working a full-time job, and battling cancer. These three descriptions should never be together, but this is exactly what Tiffiney Hammock faced in April, 2012. Breast cancer was the diagnosis and the first hurdle that Tiffiney faced was a lumpectomy. 

From the moment she realized she had cancer, Tiffiney feared the idea of a mastectomy. After several surgeries attempting to remove the cancer, her doctor informed her that her only chance for survival would be to remove her breast. Tiffiney’s first instinct was to refuse, but her husband, Samuel, lovingly encouraged her to fight. 

With her family supporting her, Tiffiney bravely faced the mastectomy that she so dreaded, only to find out she would face her second hurdle in August: chemotherapy. “I sat in the parking lot for an hour trying to work up the courage to go in,” said Tiffiney about her first chemo treatment. But as she sat in the waiting room with tears streaming down her face, a fellow fighter came to her rescue. A man who was further along in his treatment came across the room to sit with her and hold her hand. He told her he had been right where she was and that he would come and hold her hand for every treatment if that’s what she needed him to do. 

Throughout her visits to the doctor, Tiffiney said she kept hearing about this woman named Sherry who had also fought cancer. At the time Tiffiney said, “I just wasn’t ready to hear a story about a woman who had died. I just didn’t know why everyone wanted me to know about this Sherry lady.” 

She would continue with the chemo treatment every three weeks and though it made her very sick she kept a very positive outlook saying, “If I believe it…I will receive it!” She also faced several infections that caused her to need extra surgeries. Because of the illness that accompanied Tiffiney’s treatments and the extra surgeries, she had to miss work for several months, putting a greater strain on the family’s already tight budget. So, when Tiffiney was referred to Sherry’s Run again in January, 2013 by the Castillian Springs Utilities, she was finally ready to see what this was all about. When she called and spoke with Tonyia Watson, Sherry’s Run Director of Patient Assistance, she was overwhelmed by the generosity. “It was so refreshing to find people who genuinely cared,” says Tiffiney. 

Now, more than a year later, Tiffiney is cancer free, on the mend, and grateful. She said she already feels like a survivor and believes everything she has been through has been a blessing that has brought her closer to God and closer to her family who has loved her and supported her. She wants to pay forward the blessing she has received saying, “Now I try to pass along Sherry to others who are battling like me.” 

Do you know someone who is battling and needs help from people who genuinely care? If so, please share Sherry with them. 

The eleventh annual Sherry’s Run is scheduled for Saturday, September 13, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. in Lebanon, on the west lawn of Wilson Bank & Trust, 623 West Main Street. Mark your calendar and make a commitment to join us. 

The mission of Sherry’s Run: Through faith and love create an environment for all those affected by cancer, which provides hope, knowledge, assistance, support and compassion. 

To learn more about Sherry’s Run, please call 615-925-2592. To refer someone who might qualify for assistance, please call 615-925-9932 or visit www.sherrysrun.org.