Courtesy Photo | (Photo by Corey Wallace) Lt. Col Sherri Sanders competes in timed trials for cycling...... read more read more
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FORT BLISS, TX- There is a field of dreams at Fort Bliss this week, with the 2025 Army Trials taking place. They're not your average dreams but the dreams of 67 wounded, ill, or injured Soldiers who want to show what they can do as they recover and overcome. The end game is competing on Team Army at the 2025 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs on July 18-26.
"Time is precious, and I want to make the most of it. As a nurse, I preach this to my patients to live every day to the fullest, and right now, it's Warrior Games," said Lt. Col. Sherri Sanders, an Army nurse of 26 years.
Sanders, as Chief Nurse on a recent deployment to Kuwait, was hit with devastating news about her health. She had an annual CT scan of a nodule in her lung that was found in 2017. Doctors told her it was an incidental finding, to keep an eye on it and that it was possibly scar tissue. "A month before we were to leave Kuwait, I had the annual CT scan and got my results. I had one of my providers look at it, who happened to be an oncologist. I was supposed to extend my tour with the division, but she is the one who told me I had to get it out now."
Sanders explained she was cleared to deploy with last year's CT scan. In one year, it increased in size, so she pulled back from the extension of her tour and was sent to the Fort Stewart Soldier Recovery Unit. "I had surgery on January 10, 2025. I had two in one week. A brush biopsy first. When I came to, the doctor told me I had Cancer. He told me it was good that I was there. Two days later, I had a wedge resection, and they removed six inches of my lung. They did say they got it all," she said with tears of joy.
Cancer is a scary word when you hear it. How will your life change? What will you be able to do? Will you live? All things Sanders pondered. "I've been a nurse for 31 years, and sometimes, when you know too much, your mind just starts to wander. I met a wonderful person in Kuwait; she is a gynecologist in the Army Reserve. Lt. Col Cheryl Young is her name, and I have to say she changed my outlook. I honestly was preparing for the worst."
Now, Sanders is preparing for the best opportunity she has had in a long time. "Just to even think about going to Warrior Games is unreal. I would be so honored and humbled. The athletes I've competed with these last two weeks are amazing, and I'd be honored to be on Team Army."
Before she got here, the quest was for better health. She says her friend Lt. Col Young, changed her fitness and diet plan. Sanders has lost 42 pounds since Kuwait. "It made me stronger. It truly prepared me for surgery. Afterward, I was walking around with my chest tube in with no pain meds! And I was in the gym the next day, walking around and watching my heart rate like I was supposed to. I'm learning to do things differently."
Enter adaptive sports to help with the remake and energy boost. Sanders said adaptive sports does that and so much more. "It's so important. Adaptive sports will change a Soldier's mindset. It will also give them the energy and motivation to get up daily and push themselves. Being around all these Soldiers here at Army Trials and hearing their stories has been amazing. I threw shot put in junior high, but it sure isn't to the extent that I did it here today. Our coaches are wonderful. They taught me many techniques and things I could do, even missing part of my lung."
Sanders competes in track, field, swimming, sitting volleyball, cycling, and air rifle. She credits her recovery at the Fort Stewart SRU and her friends and family for helping her get to where she is today. She is a firm believer that taking care of any medical situation pronto is paramount when you are a Soldier because it can affect your future.
"I tell my patients and Soldiers we are not fine wine, and we don't get better with age. Injuries are lasting and forever. For example, I am a grandparent, and when I want to bend down and pick up that grandchild, I don't want functional limitations. Take care of your injuries now."
| Date Taken: | 04.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.09.2025 15:20 |
| Story ID: | 494954 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 30 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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