It was, after all, a lot to take in for a woman who, just two days earlier, had lost her beloved husband of 67 years Leo.
But tiny Norma, barely 45kg in all her clothes, looked the doctor dead in the eye and with all the strength she could muster simply said, “I’m 90-years-old, I’m hitting the road”.
The confused doctor and the equally flummoxed medical student at his side looked at Norma’s son Tim and daughter-in-law Ramie for clarification.
But they were looking in the wrong corner for support.
“We had had time to talk to Norma beforehand about the likelihood that there would be some bad news coming from the doctor,” says Ramie.
“She made it very clear to us that she had no interest in any treatment. We ‘got it’ and were in complete support of her decision.”
Instead the trio set out on the adventure of a lifetime, one that is now followed by more than 220,000 fans on Norma’s Facebook page Driving Miss Norma.
With no guarantee that she’d survive the surgery and chemo necessary to treat her cancer, Norma decided to enjoy the time she had left doing the things she always wanted to do.
She left in Tim and Ramie’s RV from Michigan last August and hasn’t looked back.
Norma’s visited NASA, seen the Grand Canyon, driven a speed boat, and even soared the skies in a hot air balloon, to highlight just a a few of her many adventures.
When asked how she stayed so positive, she said, “just keep on going every day, that’s about it”.