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WHAT IS SHERI'S BEECON?
Sheri's Beecon was created to honor the extraordinary life of Sheri Collins.
Sheri battled Lupus for most of her life before courageously fighting Metastatic Breast Cancer for nearly three years. Through every challenge, she greeted each day with strength, grace, and an unforgettable smile.
The name "Beecon" combines two things Sheri loved most:
Bees: because
she deeply appreciated their importance to our ecosystem and believed
they represented hard work, purpose, and sustaining life.
Beacon: because
her bright smile and compassionate spirit served as a light to everyone
she met. Even during difficult days, Sheri wanted to bring joy to
others.
Sheri's Beecon exists to continue that light.
Our organization provides education, encouragement, support, and financial assistance for individuals diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer and for the families and caregivers who walk beside them.
Every journey is unique. Every patient has questions. Everyone deserves hope.
Who Was Sheri Collins
Sheri Collins was the best Wife, Mother, Sister, daughter and
Friend ever. She was the strongest and most caring person I ever knew. I
had the honor of calling her my Wife (The absolute Love of My Life) for
thirty years. We have three amazing boys that she was the best mother
to. She was hand picked for this family. Together, we gave everything we
had to our family and it showed each and every day.
Everyone that met her was drawn to her right away because of her
smile. She lit up the entire room. She was known for her caring heart
and attitude. She always wanted to help people in any capacity she
could. I can tell different stories of that for days.
She had an interesting childhood and first few adult years that
made her incredibly strong. She was an Air Force Veteran. She was a
dental assistant in the Air Force and that gave her a passion for
cleaning teeth and upon separating from the Air Force she went to Dental
Hygiene School at UTHSC in San Antonio, TX. She did this for twenty
years and absolutely loved going to work every day. She did this until
she physically couldn’t anymore.
In 2004, after being followed for multiple symptoms, she was
diagnosed with lupus. The lupus affected her joints and bones in an
extremely painful and exhausting way. Thankfully she had incredible
doctors that helped her manage it and let her keep doing what she loved.
In early 2023, the Lupus became too hard for her to work through, and I
finally convinced her to stop being a hygienist. That was hard for her
to do mentally. Luckily, she worked at a wonderful dental practice and
they helped her transition into insurance verification for patients and
she was able to work from home and rest when needed.
Then on June 14, 2023, Sheri had an accident at the house and
ended up in the trauma center and that is where the cancer journey
started. They did an MRI and something was questionable in her liver.
They said we need to go to our PCP immediately and discuss the MRI and
do some additional tests. When we went to see our PCP (he has been our
doctor for nearly 30 years) and saw his look, we knew something was
serious. He referred us to a local oncologist. Hearing the word
oncologist was one of the hardest things we had ever heard. The initial
thoughts from the doctor was a liver cancer that didn’t have much hope
at all. After a biopsy was done, on August 12, 2023, it was confirmed to
be Stage Four Metastatic Breast Cancer. This was unreal and the visit
and how it was shared with us was awful and we knew we weren’t going
back to that place. I told her as we were walking out the door to call
MD Anderson in Houston. We are in San Antonio and it is an easy drive.
She called on a Thursday, they returned the call on Friday, and we were
scheduled for the following Tuesday. They did all of the tests, scans
and biopsies again to confirm that it was MBC. The cancer was in her
liver and bones. She never had a primary tumor in her breast. Her doctor
at MD Anderson told us to find a local doctor in San Antonio to see on a
regular basis and treat her locally and they would see us quarterly.
She called May’s Cancer Center in San Antonio to request an appointment
and by luck was assigned to one of the most wonderful, caring and loving
oncologists there is. From the very first appointment we knew that
Sheri was in the best hands possible and that her treatment would be the
best it could be. Because of this doctor and her incredible staff, we
were given almost three more incredible years together.
On March 19, 2026, Sheri was admitted to the hospital and on March
22, 2026, after consulting with her oncologist the toughest decision we
ever had to make was to go home to hospice care. On March 29, 2026,
Sheri went home to heaven.
She will forever be loved and missed every second of every day.
Why Choose Sheri's Beecon?
Empowering you with the best support and resources for metastatic breast cancer.
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