Smoke-free bill has support in county

By Staff
Melissa Cason
While lawmakers in Montgomery are preparing to vote on smoke-free legislation, one local woman is talking about her battle with cancer and her commitment to making her business smoke-free.
Betty Sibley was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1993 after a lump in her throat did not go away.
"I was being treated by a local doctor for a sinus infection for a couple of months," Sibley said. "But, when I went for a checkup in Birmingham, my doctor sent me to an ENT right away."
Sibley said they first tried a couple of different antibiotics, but when the lump did not go down, her doctor decided to do a biopsy.
"It never dawned on me what it was even when they told me it was bad," Sibley said.
Sibley underwent surgery to remove the lump from her throat.
"They did the surgery on Monday, and I got a call on Wednesday night," she remembered. "I thought it was weird they were calling me on a Wednesday night."
That phone call changed her life.
"The doctor told me it was malignant and I had to begin treatment on Friday," Sibley said. "The first thing I asked was if I was going to die."
Sibley said the cancer was at a stage three, and the doctor gave her a 72 percent survival rate.
"I don't know why he said I had a 72 percent chance," she said. "But, I figured it was a passing grade."
Sibley began treatment immediately. She had 37 treatments of radiation.
During her treatment process, Sibley learned that the kind of cancer she had was caused by smoking, dipping or drinking.
"I had never done any of that," she said. "So the doctor told me it had to be caused by second-hand smoke."
Sibley worked in an environment where smoking was permitted, and almost everyone she worked with was a smoker. As a result of her diagnosis, Sibley Oil became a smoke-free work place.
"Smoking is not permitted in our office or in our stores," she said.
As for the current legislation proposal, Sibley said supports the smoke-free bill, which would make all public places in Alabama smoke free.
"I totally support this bill," Sibley said. "When I go to restaurants and see people smoking, it makes me angry because of what I had to go through. I think if they had to go through what I did, they would not be smoking."
Sibley said cancer is the worst disease because of the pain caused by the disease. Because she got cancer, Sibley's saliva glands no longer produce saliva, and she must carry a drink around with her everywhere.
"If you were going to choose to get sick, you would not choose cancer because of the pain involved," Sibley said. "There is no form of cancer that is pleasant."
Today, Sibley is an active cancer survivor. She volunteers with the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery program, and holds the Mission Delivery Chair position on the Franklin County Relay for Life Committee.
"If it were not for the American Cancer Society, we would not have as many survivors that we have because so much of the money raised goes for research," she said.