No request Betsy Ann Tracy made while in the hospital was out of bounds for her mother Becky — even chicken wings.
“There were times that I wanted crazy things like chicken wings and I would be in the Vanderbilt Hospital and she would be out running around Nashville trying to find me what I wanted,” Betsy Ann said. “By the time she’d get back, I didn’t want it anymore.
“She tried to make everything that I wanted and I needed possible.”
Becky’s maternal instincts were front and center in late 2002 when Betsy Ann, a 2000 Barren County High School graduate, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
“It was kind of like time stood still in all respects other than just doing whatever we could do to try to find out for sure, make sure the diagnosis was correct and make sure she was going to get the right treatment,” Becky said.
One of her first moves was to call the American Cancer Society, an organization she credits with offering advice, recommending treatment centers and saying what questions should be asked.
“They were so great,” Becky said.
While her husband tended to the family’s dairy farm operation and paid the bills, Becky traveled with Betsy Ann to Vanderbilt for her chemotherapy. The schedule was three week-long stays in the hospital and then three months of outpatient treatment.
“I don’t think I could have made it had it not been for the strength and the courage that she showed,” Becky said. “I know she’s bound to have been scared, but she didn’t show it very many times.”
After one physically exhaustive session of chemo, when the treatment had taken all of Betsy Ann’s strength, Becky did the only thing she knew to do; she laid down in the hospital bed beside her daughter.
“I just didn’t know what to do and I just crawled in bed,” Becky said. “We went to sleep and we slept the whole afternoon.”
Betsy Ann’s chemotherapy was completed in March 2003. That year, her family and friends sponsored a booth at the Glasgow-Barren County Relay for Life. Titled “Betsy’s Buds,” the team raised approximately $1,700 in funds to benefit the American Cancer Society.
The team was out in full force again Friday night for the 2008 Relay, with both mother and daughter doing their part once again to “fight back” against the disease.
When not taking part in the various activities, the two talked about their Mother’s Day plans, which include a family cookout.
Most important for them is the opportunity to be together.
Betsy Ann’s gratitude and love is evident in the tears she shed when talking about everything her mother did as she battled cancer, whether it be comforting her after a taxing round of chemotherapy or roaming the streets of Nashville to find chicken wings.
“She was just there every step of the way,” Betsy Ann said. “She didn’t leave me for anything.”
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