Cheri’s Fight is Our Fight

Cheri’s Fight is Our Fight Cheri Long’s journey while battling Stage 4 Oral Cancer.

04/01/2026

Update: Yesterday was a long day but it's finally over....

Cheri's surgery was a success!! 🥳🥳 Her neurosurgeon told us that he was very happy with how things went. She had some scar tissue to work through but they were able to remove the damaged vertebral discs and get the replacement discs sized and secured in place.

Recovery took awhile however....she was experiencing left side weakness when she woke up so the doctors ordered an MRI, which came back all clear! 👏🏻 And by the time she was in her room for the night her strength was starting to improve.

Cheri should be getting discharged today and on the road to recovery....and some much needed Peyton snuggles 🐾❤️

Thank you for your continued support and love for our amazing sister. We are forever grateful.

03/31/2026

It's surgery day. All the pre-op lab work and appointments are done, stocked up on groceries, wrapped up the Easter photoshoots and a few last minutes things. Three Sisters and a Brother will be on their way to Peoria in a couple of hours.

Cheri Long is strong, resilient, fierce and a survivor. This is just one more hurdle on this journey and we know she will persevere. 👊🏻

We ask that you please keep Cheri and her surgical team in your thoughts and prayers today. 🙏🏻 An update will be shared after surgery.

03/09/2026

Hello to all you lovely people out there!

Some of you may have seen Cheri Long's recent post but I also felt like I should update here as well.

It has been almost 2 years of remission for Cheri🙏🏻 She has had countless follow-up appointments, scans, lab work, physical therapy, occupational therapy, home exercises/stretches, etc etc all while working to build her photography business back up and learning how to adjust to her "new normal".

As you may have seen in her post, Cheri has to have surgery at the end of this month. The surgery is to replace 2 cervical vertebral discs.

She has had pain in her neck since treatment and has been doing ALL the things to improve it. However, due to the localized radiation she had it caused degeneration in her cervical spine that is progressively getting worse. Sometimes causing severe debilitating pain, weakness in her arms, tingling, numbness, trouble sleeping, the list goes on.....After having 2 MRIs, 6 months apart that showed the severity of the degeneration her doctor is recommending this surgery because it will give her the best quality of life.

Surgery is scheduled for March 31st with at least a 1 night stay in the hospital. Then she will be down and out for about 6-8weeks. She will NOT as of right now have to wear a neck brace but she will have a lifting restriction and be on limited activity.

We ask that you please keep our wonderful sister in your thoughts and prayers during this time. She will need all the good vibes and positive thoughts that you have. Thank you

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