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Taylor woman a cancer survivor 
Laura Doyle survived a bout with cancer without chemotherapy or radiation therapy treatments. At 89, she enjoys knitting and remains active in cancer organizations like Relay for Life.
Photo by Jason Schaefer
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By JASON SCHAEFER It’s a common story, unfortunately — a woman in her 80s is diagnosed with cancer and fights to overcome the disease. But Laura Doyle’s story is a little different. At the age of 86, Doyle was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes, and she had surgery to remove the abnormal growths, but when her doctor said she would have to go through chemotherapy and radiation therapy she said “stop right there!” “I said, ‘I’m not going to have either one of them,’ and [the doctor] said, ‘But you have to,’ and I said, ‘No I don’t’.” She got a second opinion from a doctor in Temple, but defied his recommendation as well. The doctor asked her for five reasons not to undergo the treatments, and when she gave them, he relented. Doyle told the doctor she didn’t want to make the drive all the way to Temple for the treatments; she had a neighbor who got terribly sick because of treatment; she had a friend who didn’t take the treatment and died but didn’t suffer; she was ready to go if God called her; and that she had had a good life. Three years later, she’s still alive and kicking, and active during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She told her story to a crowd at the Breast Cancer Awareness rally in Taylor Oct. 11, and plans to attend a Relay for Life in Temple soon. She takes several medications for various reasons, but none that are cancer-patient specific. “To this day, they haven’t found anything wrong with me,” she said. “Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t take (chemotherapy).” Doyle, 89 years old and “really busy,” relates the success of her recovery to faith, prayer and courage.
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