"Dear Cancer: I Won’t Back Down”

Sherri Wunderlich Stands with Patients, One Step at a Time

When Sherri Wunderlich walks into a room, it’s often at one of the lowest moments in someone’s life.

She’s not there with a diagnosis — that already happened. She’s there for what comes next.

As an oncology nurse navigator at Reading Hospital’s McGlinn Cancer Institute, Sherri is a steadfast guide and empathetic confidant a patient meets after hearing the word cancer. She meets them in the aftermath, in the stunned silence, in the swirling fear and disbelief. And she doesn’t flinch.

“I meet them at diagnosis,” she said. “It’s often a devastating time. They heard the word cancer and don’t hear much beyond that.”

But Sherri hears them. She sees them. And she stays.

In her words: “Dear Cancer: I won’t back down.”

A Calling

The path that led Sherri to oncology wasn’t planned. She was in college, studying to become an attorney. Then life rerouted her.

Her father was diagnosed with Stage IIIB Hodgkin lymphoma when Sherri was in high school. She watched him fight through a brutal course of treatment and reclaim many years of life afterward.

She also watched what cancer did to the whole family.

That Christmas, the cancer center at Pottstown Hospital adopted their family. The cancer center’s volunteers filled their living room with gifts. And they filled young Sherri’s heart with a calling.

“I always thought, if I could be that difference in someone’s life — to let them know they’re not a burden, they’re not alone — that’s big,” she said.

Eventually, a physician she worked with part-time in college pulled her aside.

“He said, ‘You have a gift,’” Sherri recalled. “He told me I needed to be in healthcare.”

So she listened. And for the past 25 years, Sherri has served patients at Tower Health. Since August 2023, Sherri, 44, a resident of Brecknock Township, has brought her compassion and grit to McGlinn.

Just Keep Coming Back

There’s no one-size-fits-all in cancer care. Every patient is different. Every story carries its own weight.

Some patients are young mothers, juggling childcare and chemotherapy. Some are single, scared, or silently falling apart. But Sherri helps them find their footing.

“They want to be the strong one. The go-to person. The glue,” she said. “But part of my job is reminding them it’s okay to be human. To ask for help. To cry.”

She keeps the calendar moving — coordinating appointments, helping patients understand treatment, making sure they don’t feel alone in the maze. But more than that, she listens.

Sometimes it’s an email at 2 a.m. when a patient can’t sleep. Sometimes it’s a tearful conversation in the hallway. Sometimes it’s just sitting in the silence.

“I get some of my best questions in the middle of the night when a patient can’t sleep and can shoot me an email,” Sherri said. “There is no question you could ask that isn’t valid.

“Be careful where you go on the internet for information. You don’t want to spend time with your providers negating irrelevant information you found. Spend that time with your providers being given information specific to your personal situation.

“You aren’t doing this journey alone – you’ve got this and your care team has you.”

Practical Help and Hope

“Some of my empathy comes from being on the other side of the story,” she said. “I’ve lived it. I remember what it did to my family.”

When her dad collapsed at home in early 2025, Sherri rushed there. But he was gone before she could say goodbye. The official cause was a heart attack. The grief is still fresh.

“It’s been so tough,” she said. “But on the hardest days — the most frustrating days, when you want to throw in the towel — you just keep coming back.”

And she does, with unwavering purpose.

In 2010, she helped co-found Stretch the Ride, a local nonprofit that supports families navigating cancer. The group has helped more than 450 families to date — with gas cards, groceries, bill support, and hope.

That’s what Sherri offers her patients, too. Hope. Practical help. A reminder that they’re not defined by their diagnosis.

She beams with pride when her patients ring the bell. She shares their victories, cries with their losses, and walks beside them in between.

“I think McGlinn is special,” she said. “It offers tertiary care with a hometown feel. You don’t have to drive hours to get world-class support.”

From the Image Recovery Center to support groups, from social work services to the on-site food pantry, the message is the same: You are not alone.

And neither is Sherri. Her faith, she says, sustains her.

“There are a lot of days that renew and refresh my own faith in God,” she said.

For all the sorrow cancer brings, she sees the beauty in resilience. In patients who keep going. In children who still laugh. In families who fight together.

Sherri Wunderlich isn’t here to back down. She’s here to show up.

Every time.