I wanted to share a story of inspiration about a friend and co-worker. Her name is Carole and we work at Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County. Carole was diagnosed with an advanced stage of breast cancer a few months ago (and only two months after her mother was diagnosed). She is a single mother of a daughter in the 3rd grade who never knew anything about her father and the events that took place during the time she was waiting for the diagnosis were very traumatic to say the least. Carole had not told her daughter yet that she might have cancer, but her daughter asked her one evening if she could try to find her father via Facebook. Of course this scared Carole because then all she saw was impending doom. "Was she going to die from this cancer and was this God's way of making sure her daughter was going to be taking care of?" Carole, being the strong and positive person that she is, did not hold that thought for long (minutes maybe, with occasional relapses). After she received the diagnosis, she grabbed it by the horns, and started fighting. She started her chemo treatments and has two left before starting radiation. She has pretty much been a bundle of positive energy and only occasionally lies on the couch in the office just to get a few minutes rest. We are supporting her, and with her positive attitude, we realize we have nothing to complain about because she never complains. She is a good mother, friend and co-worker that we love very much. We recently took a photo with the hospital to honor Breast Cancer Awareness that will be on a billboard in Martinsville, VA. Look for it if you're in town.

Tina Sharpe
Martinsville, VA