As a teenager, Cheryl was diagnosed with "terminal" cancer. The tumor, which started in the muscle of her left leg, was confirmed to be a rare and aggressive form of cancer known as "fibrosarcoma", which wasn't responsive to any of the chemo or radiation treatments of the day. After two surgeries on her leg, the cancer had spread to her lungs, and the doctors informed her parents that she wouldn't likely live to graduate from high school. The doctors decided to operate and removed half of her left lung, during her senior year of high school (fall of 1975) and she has been cancer-free ever since.