Sherry Pollex opens up about cancer, her fight to live

Even the true beauty of Lake Norman can look different with the winds of change.

On the banks of this lake, life is different for Sherry Pollex.

A year ago, Pollex and her longtime boyfriend, Martin Truex Jr., were living life in the fast lane -- maybe too fast.

IMAGES: Sherry Pollex opens up on battle with ovarian cancer

"I just remember feeling tired and super-bloated," Pollex said.

Doctors diagnosed her with ovarian cysts and said she would be fine, but Pollex knew something still wasn't right. A family friend and doctor insisted on a full body scan.

Half an hour after that scan, the hospital called her to come back immediately. The doctor told her four words she will never forget.

RAW: Sherry Pollex talks about cancer diagnosis

"He said, 'I don't know…I don't know how to say this, but you have ovarian cancer,'" Pollex said. "I remember looking at Dr. Hyder and saying, 'Are you talking to me?' I said, 'That can't be my body on that scan. I feel fine. I have a stomach ache and I'm a little bit bloated. That can't be me.' He said, 'Oh no, it is you and you need help. We need to get you somewhere, like tomorrow.'"

Pollex immediately went through major surgery to remove the cancer, and then spent the next six months in chemotherapy.

"I had so many dark days in the beginning," Pollex said. "That girl is gone. She's never to be again. I mean, I'm not that person anymore, physically and emotionally, I'm not that person anymore.

"You're constantly worried it's (going to) come back. So you just live your life every day thinking, I have to make the best of today and make as many people smile as I can, because I don't know if I'm going to be here tomorrow."

That fight to live has been fought with the help of her friends, including fellow NASCAR wife Krissie Newman.

"She's always been like a sister to me. It's made us closer. It's made us appreciate our friendship more," Newman said.

It's also brought their significant others, Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman, closer.

"It's hard in the racing world to have good friends and be competitors.  They look out for each other.  They have each other's backs and they're tight. Ryan's been there if Martin needed to talk but I never ask what they talk about. I may not want to know," Krissie Newman said with a laugh.

Ryan Newman and Truex Jr. have long battled each other on the race track, but their bond has only gotten tighter in the last year.

"It's tough to watch a friend struggle at anything, whether it's cancer or grip of the race car or whatever.  It's not what you want to see," Ryan Newman said.

"It changed the way I approached my career, the way I do things," Truex Jr. said. "It just kind of opened my eyes to a lot of things I didn't know before."

At race tracks across the country earlier this year, Pollex's battle turned into a mission. The blue ribbon on Truex Jr.'s car showed support for Pollex.

CLIP: Sherry Pollex says 'I'm a fighter'

"I remember thinking to myself that it was so surreal to see my name on that car," Pollex said. "It was like out of body because I've seen so many people's names on the cars.  It's normally when someone passes.  And I thought, 'No, I'm still here.' I'm a fighter."

She's a fighter who's never given up, and certainly has no plans to. What makes her cancer so personal is that for years through their foundation, Pollex and Truex Jr. have focused on helping kids with cancer.

"They inspire me every day.  They're the whole reason that I've fought through this disease, and I want to prove to them that I can beat it too," Pollex said.
 
A life that's changed Pollex with four words, and perhaps has given her new meaning for what true beauty really is.

"Everything, everything is different," Pollex said. "The sky's bluer, the flowers are brighter. Everything is different."

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