WENDY’S STORY
Wendy’s story truly spoke to me. When I heard of her journey with breast cancer I was struck by how she does not seem to be
allowing the disease take over her life, she is fighting with every ounce of strength she has. I decided to publish her story because of my
own experience with a life threatening illness that struck suddenly at the end of June (2016). Her story is an inspiration to me and that
regardless of what happens to me I will keep fighting and keep doing what I love because that is what makes me feel alive!! — Carrie
McCauley
M
y love for motorcycles began in the
summer of 1980. Our nation was in dire
straits financially at that time and I found
the love of riding as I was spending my summer in
Wyoming with my cousins. I was ten and we lived
in the outskirts of the reservation so there wasn’t
a whole heck of a lot to do out there except get
into trouble, which of course we did because we
were kids. My uncle found us a mini bike and he
fixed it up and he taught us how to ride. Pretty
soon he found another one and my cousin and I
spent nearly all of our days riding the mini bikes
with other kids who had talked to their parents and
were gotten mini bikes to ride too.
We built a little track out there and we would jump
the river and the little creeks in that area. We would
ride up and down the highways just thinking that
we were just like Evil Knievel and we all tried all
kinds of stunts. Who could jump the farthest and
who could take their hands off of their handlebars
at various times, but my love for riding started with
those mini bikes and we rode them every summer.
During the summer of 1986 I lost a dear friend
in a motorcycle accident and I stopped riding then
and for years I would not get back on a bike, the
memories were too painful. Then, one day I had a
friend ask if I wanted to grab some therapy in the
wind, I said yes and I have been riding ever since.
My journey has been a long one and in December
of 2015 I was diagnosed with stage 3 invasive
ductal carcinoma--in layman terms stage 3 breast
cancer. So far I have gone through 33 rounds of
chemotherapy and I have a surgery scheduled to
remove the remaining mass of the cancer in my left
breast. Unfortunately, last week I had a biopsy on
my throat and they found a lump that came back
26 Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado
September 2016
www.thunderroadscolorado.com