Oct 10, 2016 By Luke Campbell 3 min read

For most of her life, Nancy Shaw has been telling herself that the cancer running through her body was beatable.

First diagnosed with breast cancer, Shaw began a fight in her mid-30s that has ceased to diminish.

Doctors, for a majority of those years dating back to 1998, have continued to affirm that fact.

“Four years ago, they told me there was no cure for it anymore,” she said, after receiving word that the cancer moved its way into her spine and onto her liver. “When you fight it for so long, you always have that hope. When they tell you there is no cure for it anymore, it’s weird. I still fight every day to slow it down.”

Chemotherapy leading to remission had been a routine for Shaw, who has fended off cancer in nearly every part of her body.

Now, nearing the end of her three-month medical leave in which Shaw has tried to sustain and bolster her 88-pound frame after losing a drastic amount of weight, she knows she still has a life to live to the fullest.

“The hardest part for me is feeling my body and knowing I can’t do things I did 20 years ago,” said Shaw. “You start losing little pieces of yourself as you keep going. In this last year, it’s been very hard because there are things that I used to do one year ago that I can’t do now. I have to rely on people.”

While Shaw wasn’t asking for help, her sister, Tricia Wood of South Fayette, decided to make sure to lend a hand, anyway.

“I just asked myself, ‘What can I do for her?'” Wood said.

Living about a half-an-hour away from both her sister and most of her family in Brighton Heights, Wood is holding a Bingo benefit with doors opening at 6 p.m. Nov. 1 in Fairview Volunteer Fire Department.

The event will include designer purses, luggage, 20 games of bingo, door prizes, a Chinese auction and refreshments. Tickets cost $25. Proceeds will help with Shaw’s current and future medical costs.

“The idea came from working for the school district,” said Wood, who serves as the district’s director of food and nutritional services. “We have about 170 tickets sold already, but we are shooting for 300.”

With her “bucket list” continuing to shrink, after having it for so many years because of the unknown, a goal for Shaw is to have enough time to eventually take her 6-year-old grandson, Liam, to Disneyland.

“Your mind wants to try and block out the terminal part,” said Shaw. “I’m not going to crumble. I’ve always been like that. Whatever comes my way I handle it. I still have the same motivation to do the things I’ve always done.”

For tickets or more information, contact Tricia Wood at 724-693-3019 or e-mail bingofornancy@yahoo.com. If you are unable to attend but would like to help Shaw and her family, donations can be made payable to Nancy Shaw, c/o Tricia Wood, P.O. Box 144, Morgan, Pa. 15064.