Bold 90-Year Old Woman Forgoes Cancer Treatment and Instead Hits the Road To Travel America

Love the face and the photo bomb!

Posted by Driving Miss Norma on Monday, February 22, 2016

After losing her dear husband Leo, a bold 90-year old woman known as Miss Norma was herself diagnosed with cancer. Rather than sticking around for treatment, Miss Norma decided to hit the road in a motor home and travel the United States with her son Tim and daughter-in-law Ramie. Her decision was inspired by the book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, a book that speaks about the quality of life at the end of life.

The day after Leo was admitted to Hospice we learned that she had a large, likely cancerous mass on her uterus. Two days after Leo died we found ourselves sitting in an OB/GYN office talking about treatment options. You know the drill: surgery, then radiation and chemo in some order. When the doctor was finished he asked her how she would like to proceed. A tiny woman at 101 pounds and under five-feet tall, an exhausted Norma looked the young doctor dead in the eye and with the strongest voice she could muster, said, “I’m 90-years-old, I’m hitting the road.” The doc and the confused first-day medical student who was shadowing him looked at Tim (her son) and me (her daughter-in-law, Ramie) for some clarification.

Up, up and away!

Posted by Driving Miss Norma on Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Today we took time to stop and smell the flowers.

Posted by Driving Miss Norma on Friday, February 26, 2016

Well, we did it! We got Miss Norma to Disney World! She had never been and was decidedly the oldest person we saw all…

Posted by Driving Miss Norma on Wednesday, January 27, 2016

For many years Norma and Leo would listen to Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story" at lunch time in their humble home in…

Posted by Driving Miss Norma on Monday, September 21, 2015

via Today

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.