Sheryl Miller thought it was just stomach pain. As a registered dental hygienist for nearly 37 years, she was used to taking care of others — not being the one in the hospital. But in November 2023, a sudden wave of abdominal pain led her to the ER — twice.
“I thought I was just constipated,” Sheryl recalls. “I went to the ER, and they gave me medication, but the pain got worse — worse than labor pains.”
Multiple hospital visits later, doctors discovered a mass. At Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Institute, Asif Talukder, MD, colon and rectal surgeon, confirmed the shocking news: Sheryl had stage 3 colon cancer.
Her reaction? Pure determination.
“I had a peace come over me,” she says. “I knew God was with me. I just said, ‘OK, what do we have to do?’”
A Complex Surgery and a Life-Changing Journey
On November 8, Dr. Talukder performed an emergency open surgery, removing nearly two feet of her colon. Sheryl woke up with an ileostomy bag and began her recovery process.
By February 15, she was well enough to return to work. Soon after, she started 12 rounds of chemotherapy under the care of oncologist Greg Bizette, MD.
“The team at Our Lady of the Lake was amazing,” she says. “From Dr. Talukder and Dr. Bizette to the nurses and phlebotomists — everyone was uplifting and took such good care of me.”
Even when chemo caused her to lose her hair, she faced it with resilience.
“Your hair is such a part of you,” she says. “But I rocked it and let it go.”
She credits her faith, family and support from her church for helping her through the toughest days.
Facing a Setback — and Pushing Through
By September 2024, Sheryl was scheduled for surgery to reverse her ileostomy, expecting just a few days in the hospital. But things didn’t go as planned.
“A few days after surgery, my stomach swelled, I couldn’t hold anything down, and I was throwing up for days,” she remembers.
Doctors searched for answers, even reviewing her seven-hour surgery minute by minute. Finally, a contrast CT revealed fluid buildup that was preventing her intestines from working. The only solution? A GI tube.
“I was terrified, and I had extreme anxiety,” she says. “But the doctors and nurses reassured me. As soon as they placed the tube, everything improved within 24 hours.”
By October 7, 2024, she was back home. By February 2025, she was back at work full-time — living life on her terms again.
More Than a Survivor — A Hero
Sheryl is now cancer-free and thriving. She’s back to Pilates, walking and enjoying life with her husband, Robert, and their blended family.
But her story of heroism started long before her diagnosis. Just a few years earlier, in July 2022, she saved Robert’s life after he suffered a stroke, pulling him out of their swimming pool and getting him to care at Our Lady of the Lake Heart & Vascular Institute in time.
Today, Sheryl carries her survivor story proudly — literally. She has a tattoo of the colon cancer awareness ribbon, a design so meaningful that Dr. Talukder is turning it into an enamel pin for his other patients.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better team,” she says. “They never gave up on me. And I never gave up on myself.”
On February 20, Sheryl will be honored as one of Our Lady of the Lake’s Geaux Heroes during the LSU Women’s Basketball game against Georgia, the Play4Kay game, bringing awareness to all cancers women face.
