Hello, my name is Nancy Ridgeway. I am a cancer survivor for 4 ½ years. I am 67 y ears old. I’m married to a wonderful husband. I have one son and one stepdaughter.
In September 1985, I started having a problem with my side and was hemorrhaging heavy. I called my doctor and he set me up for a D & C. In the scrapings, they found a tumor. It was sent to the lab for testing. The results came back malignant. When he called me and told me it was cancer, I was so nervous I cried. I could not reach my husband, my son or my sister. I left them a message and they called me back. I told them the bad news and what I had to do and quick.
I went to the hospital on September 12th and 13th, I had a hysterectomy. I came through that good. I saw my doctor everyday and on the 4th day he came and said the tests had come back and I would have to have chemotherapy or maybe radiation. I looked at my doctor and said “no way”. The doctor said I could decide and if I said okay, he would send me to a cancer doctor. My sister and I talked and agreed for radiation. I went to the cancer doctor. She was nice and explained the treatment and told me the kind of cancer I had was between A & B – fast growing. I could not start treatment right away. I had to wait for the healing process. After the healing, I started with six weeks of radiation treatments and I had very little problems with the treatments.
Everyday I look at life so different than I did before. I appreciated the true meaning of life and love and giving. I thank God so much for His healing and giving me strength to go on and be a better person. I thank my family and friends for their support. And now, I do not take anything for granted. I love life!
Nancy Ridgeway, Alleghany County