"I think for me that just kinda reaffirmed that this is survivable."
Bob Amendola
Early in his battle with lung cancer, Bob Amendola had a conversation with his nurse that has stuck with him ever since.
“I was going in for chemotherapy, and I walk in, and she preps me – the whole nine yards – she kinda looks; she gives me the shot. She goes, ‘How are you?’ and I said, ‘Oh, Nance, I’m spectacular.’ She goes, ‘Don’t fool me.’ She said, ‘No really, how are you?’ and I said, ‘I’m a wreck.’ And she goes, ‘You’re doing great, but the one thing that you have to never forget is that there’s hope. Every day, every month, every year, every week, they’re coming up with something, and someday, something will be there for you.’
"There’s certain key points in your life that you remember so that for me was a reaffirmation that there’s things going on that people don’t see. You get tagged with that cancer label, and a lot of people don’t live through it, but a lot of people do. It’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be a long journey, and I think for me that just kinda reaffirmed that this is survivable."
Bob Amendola was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2006, which had traveled to his brain. Bob disagreed with the initial estimate that he had only 6 months to live and underwent many treatments, experiments and surgeries. He has been out of treatment for two years and has been cancer free for 20 months. Bob worked his normal job throughout the entire journey to keep his mind distracted. He also finds it helpful to talk to others about his cancer, since it is a part of his life.
For more stories on cancer survival, visit WNPR's Survivor Stories.
