90-year-old woman chooses road trip over cancer treatment

'People shouldn’t be afraid to travel. No matter your age'

Norma visiting Henderson Beach State Park (Driving Miss Norma/Facebook)

In the last six months, a 90-year-old woman has seen some of the most famous landmarks in the US, including Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon.

Norma, who was diagnosed with cancer last year, decided to take the epic road trip across the country rather than undergo treatment.

Currently seeing the sights in Florida, Norma is travelling in a motor home with her son Tim, daughter-in-law Ramie and their pet poodle Ringo. Over Christmas, she fulfilled one of her dreams by taking a ride in a hot air balloon.

Norma, from Michigan, told The Huffington Post: “People shouldn’t be afraid to travel. No matter your age.”

She made the decision to go on the trip in August 2015 after she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and was asked by a doctor about how she would like to proceed with her treatment.

Norma, whose husband had died two days earlier, said: “I’m 90 years old, I’m hitting the road.”

Her decision has been widely supported and a Facebook page documenting her travels, called Driving Miss Norma, has so far garnered almost 90,000 “likes”.

In a post on the page, her family wrote about the decision to not have treatment and to travel instead. According to them, Norma’s doctor fully supported the idea and said: “As doctors we see what cancer treatment looks like every day. ICU, nursing homes, awful side effects and honestly, there is no guarantee she will survive the initial surgery to remove the mass.

“You are doing exactly what I would want to do in this situation. Have a fantastic trip!”

Speaking to The Huffington Post, Norma's daughter-in-law Ramie said they had no plans to stop travelling yet. She said: “We have no idea where or when it will end. We are living in the present moment.”

“Everyone has different ideas about how they want the end of their life to work. As a planet, we need to have this conversation,” she told ABC News.