Rather than sulking into the operating room for a double mastectomy, Doreta Norris chooses to dance.
The 52-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer in November of 2013 after a mammogram found a tumor in her right breast. The doctors recommended a mastectomy as treatment but fear of cancer appearing in the left breast as well, Norris elected for an aggressive course of treatment — a double mastectomy.
“Staff came up to hug me, dance with me and give me words of encouragement. I truly felt like I could conquer the world.”
Shortly before her surgery in March, Norris, shared a simple request with nurse Brooke Galimore at Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia: On the day of the procedure, Norris wanted to Gangnam Style her way to the operating room. Galimore, being a good nurse, let the rest of the staff know and spontaneously lined the hallways.
“I stepped out of my room and found hospital staff and doctors lining both sides of the hall,” said Norris. “I heard the music playing and began to dance.”
“It was an emotional dance,” Norris said. “Staff came up to hug me, dance with me and give me words of encouragement. I truly felt like I could conquer the world.”
Norris considers the dance a gift.
“The hospital staff could have given me medications, wheeled me into the operating room on a stretcher and that would be that,” said Norris. “But the staff at Piedmont Henry cared about me, acknowledged my struggle and helped me overcome a difficult time.”
Having undergone her last surgery on Tuesday, Norris is now cancer-free and is looking forward to many more dances.