Linda Norris
“Once you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you never look at the green grass, the flowers the trees and the ocean the same way. It can be a great gift.” – Linda Norris.
In June of 2003 Linda Norris of Rehoboth Beach was working as a loan officer’s assistant when she began to have trouble performing simple routine tasks that were part of her job. Even playing golf, one of her favorite sports, suddenly seemed confusing. She told Jane Cawley, her co-worker and golf partner, that she felt like she was losing it. “Jane told me that I had been doing things I never did before, even while playing golf, and that she thought I should see a doctor,” says Linda.
That was the beginning of a roller coaster ride that took Linda from doctor to doctor and hospital to hospital. She was initially diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, which eventually was successfully treated through radiosurgery. But doctors found that the cancer had metastasized from her lungs. She received chemotherapy for the lung cancer but her doctors had advised against any kind of surgery.
“One of the ‘girls’ who was getting chemo with me at Tunnell Cancer Center told me that she had talked to a team at Johns Hopkins about having lung cancer surgery,” says Linda. She decided to meet with doctors at Hopkins for a second opinion and they advised removing part of the lung.
“When I knew that I was going to go in for a lung operation, I wanted to learn to breathe better, so I signed up for yoga at the Wellness Community (Sussex),” she says. “It has helped me breathe and relax.”
“I have participated in T’ai Chi and 'Shake your Soul'. The 'Look Good/Feel Better' program is excellent. Ray (my caregiver and husband) is participating in a Yoga class for men. This has proven a good exercise and relaxing program for him. Those of us that have been touched with cancer and the caregivers that have come in contact with the Wellness Community know how great it is.”
When she completed all of her surgery and chemo treatment and was released by her doctors, the prognosis was good. But suddenly, “I felt like I was hanging,” she says. While she was undergoing treatment she didn’t feel a need to attend a support group at TWCD because she had the support of her husband and caregiver Ray, doctors, nurses, and family members. she says. But like many people with cancer, she found that sometimes the need for support is greater after treatment is complete. “Now I try to participate in as many programs at The Wellness Community as possible.”
Linda recently played in a golf tournament to benefit TWCD’s Sussex County programs.
“I would recommend the Wellness Community to anyone that has been touched with Cancer and to the families and caregivers. You will get the help and support that you need and will also make a lot of good friends.”
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