Rita Handley:  

Life Pursuiing a life long dream, I entered the Rockingham Memorial Hospital-School fo Nursing(greatly resembling a cloister) in Harrisonburg, Va. a mere 5 days after graduation. After a grueling straight 32 month indoctrination and trial by fire, I graduated in March 1973. I began work as a RN at Waynesboro Community Hospital in April 1973 in the Obstetrics unit. I married Richard Handley in July 1973 and we remain together 35 years later. After 18 months working OB I found the first of my niches in nursing in the ER. I worked in the WCH ER for 12 years. After being told that we would never be able to have our own child, you can imagine our great surprise and wonder when I became pregnant. Our only child, Kathaleen aka Katey, was born one week after our 11th anniversary in 1984. She has been the delight of both of our families and while somewhat(HA)spoiled she has turned out to be a wonderfully fun and generous person. She is a 2009 VT grad. I continued to work full time after her birth, moving to the Commonwealth of Virginia for employment and transferring to various facilities throughout the next 16 years. I worked at UVA in the ER for 3 years, found my second career niche at the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center is Fishersville, VA. From the ER to physical rehab, what a switch, but I loved the jobs! In January 1997, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and my world has changed forever. Mammography failed in my case but I had every reason to believe that I would go into remission as all of my lymph nodes were negative. I returned to work full time after treatment (Chemotherapy and radiation.) In June of 2001, it was discoved that the cancer had spread to one of the vertebrae in my upper spine. It has not spread anywhere else and I went through another, shorter series of radiation (yes I do glow in the dark), was started on oral chemotherapy and a quarterly IV infusion to prevent bone loss that will continue for the remainder of my life. My disease is con...Expand for more