Too Much Living Left To Do
October 02, 2026
September 2026 Article
Shared with permission from Steve Raymond, Effingham-Teutopolis News Report
Becky Quandt has breast cancer, but she’s adamant about one thing.
“I’m not ready to go yet,” she said. “I have two grandbabies coming. I’d be the one up there whining to God, wanting to be here with those grandbabies. Believe me, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
What the future holds is still uncertain. Becky is in the midst of chemotherapy treatments.
Will that be enough to put the cancer in remission?
Will surgery be required?
“You can wallow in it or let the doctors and God take over,” Becky said. “That’s what I’ve done. And when I did, that’s when I started believing I’m going to be just fine.”
Becky (Sherrick) Quandt, 56, was born and raised in Watson. She graduated from Effingham High School in 1988. She is divorced and has two adult children – Alec Quandt and Jason Martin.
Becky teaches reading and writing to sixth and seventh graders at Effingham Junior High School. She is also the track and volleyball coach at EJHS.
Other than a few “sinus infections here and there,” she says she’s been healthy her whole life. She had a grandfather, uncle and cousin’s son pass away due to cancer, but there’s been no cancer on the Sherrick side of the family.
“I always assumed cancer was hereditary,” Becky admitted. “That’s why I was so shocked.”
After her father and a good friend passed away in November 2025, she began having difficulty sleeping well.
“I remember having to get up during the night and hit my left breast on the door and it really hurt,” Becky recalled.
A couple weeks later, she did it again. And, again, it was quite painful.
“I thought something was going on,” Becky noted. “A little after that, I felt a lump under my arm. But a week later, it was gone.
“Then in January, I started noticing some weird things with my breast,” she added. “It felt hard. There was like a crust on my breast. I looked that up and found out it was a symptom of breast cancer.”
She made an appointment to have a mammogram in February – her first in six years.
They called Becky the next day and asked her to come back in, where she met with Dr. Ruben Boyajian at HSHS St. Anthony’s Women’s Wellness Center. Dr. Boyajian did a biopsy of the breast and lymph nodes.
After the biopsy, additional tests were scheduled – an MRI at HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital and a PET Scan at the Crossroads Cancer Center.
“The PET Scan scared me,” Becky admitted. “It showed swollen lymph nodes that were all over my body.
“I was at school when they called with the results,” she continued. “I went into panic mode. A co-teacher helped me understand that the results weren’t as bad as I initially thought. After I released some tears, I thought, ‘Okay. I’m going to be fine.’”
Becky was also a little upset with herself.
“If I had a mammogram done regularly, this would have been caught sooner and it wouldn’t have spread into the lymph nodes,” Becky admitted. “So, I wasn’t surprised when they told me it was breast cancer. I knew something wasn’t right.”
Becky told her family and friends immediately.
“You don’t hide things like this,” she said. “One of my good friends had just gone through it. It was great having girls at work I could bounce things off of. I can’t tell you how much that helped.”
She also told her classes at EJHS.
“I told them I was going to be fine, but they were worried,” Becky noted. “They wondered if I would lose my hair.”
Which she did, beginning with the very first treatment.
The next step was meeting with Dr. Philip Dy at Crossroads Cancer Center, who recommended a treatment.
“He said we needed to start with chemo,” Becky recalled. “The first round began May 6. There was a treatment once every three weeks.”
The chemo didn’t make her sick, but the very first treatment did give her a migraine headache that lasted three days. Plus, it made her tired.
“After the first one, which they call the Red Devil, they changed something and I haven’t had a migraine since,” Becky noted. “Thankfully, it didn’t make me sick, but I was exhausted.”
The second round started at the end of June. She receives one treatment each week for 12 weeks. That will be completed by the end of September.
“After the first four treatments, the MRI showed nothing had shrunk,” Becky said. “But things feel different to me. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the second round will work. If not, I’ll have to have surgery. And if so, I’m ready to have it done as quickly as possible. I’d like to have it all done by the first of the year.
“Whether it’s a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, I’m ready,” Becky added. “My fiancé said whatever it takes, just get rid of it.”
Becky doesn’t know how she could get through all of this without the support she’s received from family, friends, students and co-workers.
“I knew I had friends, but I had no idea I had this many,” she said. “I’ve cried more about that than anything. It’s meant so much.”
The EJHS track team shaved their heads in support of Becky. Last year’s eighth grade girls put a book together that contained letters from the boys and girls at the school. Fundraisers from shirt sales, Jeans’ Day and donations from South Side School – all have helped financially.
“I’ve paid half of my medical bill from what the school district has done for me,” Becky explained. “Plus, they ask how I’m doing or if I need anything. They have rallied around me.”
Her chemo treatments are on Wednesday afternoons.
“There have been a few times they’ve just told me to go home, and they cover for my class,” Becky noted. “They can tell when I’m having a bad day. That’s how wonderful it’s been. Unit 40 has been so good to me. Everybody has stepped up and been awesome.”
She’s also been impressed with the care she has received.
“Dr. Dy and Dr. Boyajian are amazing,” Becky said. “They are so personal and make you feel so comfortable. They make you feel like you’re going to be fine. The nurses at the Women’s Wellness Center and Cancer Center are amazing, too. The care they provide is wonderful.
“I hear about people going to St. Louis or elsewhere and I wonder why,” Becky continued. “I can’t imagine getting better care than I have here in Effingham.”
As for advice for others going through this, Becky said maintaining a positive attitude and letting other people help you is important. As is getting a regular mammogram.
“If I had got mine when I was supposed to, this would have been a lot easier,” she emphasized.
Becky admits she’s tired of everything she’s going through and still experiences some bad days.
“But I’m not going to let this get me down,” she quickly added. “I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason, so there is a reason for this. I pray about it every day. I know God is with me.
“Yes, I want my life back and I’m ready to do whatever it takes,” Becky said. “I’m a strong person. I will not let this beat me. I have too much living left to do.”
Shared with permission from Steve Raymond, Effingham-Teutopolis News Report
Becky Quandt has breast cancer, but she’s adamant about one thing.
“I’m not ready to go yet,” she said. “I have two grandbabies coming. I’d be the one up there whining to God, wanting to be here with those grandbabies. Believe me, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
What the future holds is still uncertain. Becky is in the midst of chemotherapy treatments.
Will that be enough to put the cancer in remission?
Will surgery be required?
“You can wallow in it or let the doctors and God take over,” Becky said. “That’s what I’ve done. And when I did, that’s when I started believing I’m going to be just fine.”
Becky (Sherrick) Quandt, 56, was born and raised in Watson. She graduated from Effingham High School in 1988. She is divorced and has two adult children – Alec Quandt and Jason Martin.
Becky teaches reading and writing to sixth and seventh graders at Effingham Junior High School. She is also the track and volleyball coach at EJHS.
Other than a few “sinus infections here and there,” she says she’s been healthy her whole life. She had a grandfather, uncle and cousin’s son pass away due to cancer, but there’s been no cancer on the Sherrick side of the family.
“I always assumed cancer was hereditary,” Becky admitted. “That’s why I was so shocked.”
After her father and a good friend passed away in November 2025, she began having difficulty sleeping well.
“I remember having to get up during the night and hit my left breast on the door and it really hurt,” Becky recalled.
A couple weeks later, she did it again. And, again, it was quite painful.
“I thought something was going on,” Becky noted. “A little after that, I felt a lump under my arm. But a week later, it was gone.
“Then in January, I started noticing some weird things with my breast,” she added. “It felt hard. There was like a crust on my breast. I looked that up and found out it was a symptom of breast cancer.”
She made an appointment to have a mammogram in February – her first in six years.
They called Becky the next day and asked her to come back in, where she met with Dr. Ruben Boyajian at HSHS St. Anthony’s Women’s Wellness Center. Dr. Boyajian did a biopsy of the breast and lymph nodes.
After the biopsy, additional tests were scheduled – an MRI at HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital and a PET Scan at the Crossroads Cancer Center.
“The PET Scan scared me,” Becky admitted. “It showed swollen lymph nodes that were all over my body.
“I was at school when they called with the results,” she continued. “I went into panic mode. A co-teacher helped me understand that the results weren’t as bad as I initially thought. After I released some tears, I thought, ‘Okay. I’m going to be fine.’”
Becky was also a little upset with herself.
“If I had a mammogram done regularly, this would have been caught sooner and it wouldn’t have spread into the lymph nodes,” Becky admitted. “So, I wasn’t surprised when they told me it was breast cancer. I knew something wasn’t right.”
Becky told her family and friends immediately.
“You don’t hide things like this,” she said. “One of my good friends had just gone through it. It was great having girls at work I could bounce things off of. I can’t tell you how much that helped.”
She also told her classes at EJHS.
“I told them I was going to be fine, but they were worried,” Becky noted. “They wondered if I would lose my hair.”
Which she did, beginning with the very first treatment.
The next step was meeting with Dr. Philip Dy at Crossroads Cancer Center, who recommended a treatment.
“He said we needed to start with chemo,” Becky recalled. “The first round began May 6. There was a treatment once every three weeks.”
The chemo didn’t make her sick, but the very first treatment did give her a migraine headache that lasted three days. Plus, it made her tired.
“After the first one, which they call the Red Devil, they changed something and I haven’t had a migraine since,” Becky noted. “Thankfully, it didn’t make me sick, but I was exhausted.”
The second round started at the end of June. She receives one treatment each week for 12 weeks. That will be completed by the end of September.
“After the first four treatments, the MRI showed nothing had shrunk,” Becky said. “But things feel different to me. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the second round will work. If not, I’ll have to have surgery. And if so, I’m ready to have it done as quickly as possible. I’d like to have it all done by the first of the year.
“Whether it’s a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, I’m ready,” Becky added. “My fiancé said whatever it takes, just get rid of it.”
Becky doesn’t know how she could get through all of this without the support she’s received from family, friends, students and co-workers.
“I knew I had friends, but I had no idea I had this many,” she said. “I’ve cried more about that than anything. It’s meant so much.”
The EJHS track team shaved their heads in support of Becky. Last year’s eighth grade girls put a book together that contained letters from the boys and girls at the school. Fundraisers from shirt sales, Jeans’ Day and donations from South Side School – all have helped financially.
“I’ve paid half of my medical bill from what the school district has done for me,” Becky explained. “Plus, they ask how I’m doing or if I need anything. They have rallied around me.”
Her chemo treatments are on Wednesday afternoons.
“There have been a few times they’ve just told me to go home, and they cover for my class,” Becky noted. “They can tell when I’m having a bad day. That’s how wonderful it’s been. Unit 40 has been so good to me. Everybody has stepped up and been awesome.”
She’s also been impressed with the care she has received.
“Dr. Dy and Dr. Boyajian are amazing,” Becky said. “They are so personal and make you feel so comfortable. They make you feel like you’re going to be fine. The nurses at the Women’s Wellness Center and Cancer Center are amazing, too. The care they provide is wonderful.
“I hear about people going to St. Louis or elsewhere and I wonder why,” Becky continued. “I can’t imagine getting better care than I have here in Effingham.”
As for advice for others going through this, Becky said maintaining a positive attitude and letting other people help you is important. As is getting a regular mammogram.
“If I had got mine when I was supposed to, this would have been a lot easier,” she emphasized.
Becky admits she’s tired of everything she’s going through and still experiences some bad days.
“But I’m not going to let this get me down,” she quickly added. “I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason, so there is a reason for this. I pray about it every day. I know God is with me.
“Yes, I want my life back and I’m ready to do whatever it takes,” Becky said. “I’m a strong person. I will not let this beat me. I have too much living left to do.”
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