A passionate Blackjack player, Debbie Bury, sensed something was amiss a few weeks ago when the cards didn’t add up. The cards didn’t seem to cooperate as they used to, and everything felt off.
“They weren’t coming together right,” Bury said. “A lot of times, you have to put cards in order, and they just didn’t want to play with me. It felt like they were saying, ‘We are done with you, you don’t have it anymore.'”
Concerned, Bury sought medical attention and was soon admitted to the fifth floor of Methodist Hospital. There, doctors delivered devastating news: she had stage four brain cancer.
“They said, ‘I just gotta let you know, you have three cancers in your head,'” Bury recalled.
Despite the overwhelming diagnosis, Bury found solace in the outpouring of love from her family and friends. “The first day, I had about 26 friends come to see me,” she shared.
The staff on the oncology floor also quickly became part of Bury’s support network. Andrea O’Hern, the Oncology Nurse Manager at Methodist Hospital, described Bury as a “joy to the floor” and even made her a crown, calling her the “Queen of Methodist Hospital.” Bury’s upbeat spirit was infectious, brightening the room wherever she went.
One day, a visitor brought her a scratch-off lottery ticket themed with the Minnesota Vikings, which reminded Bury of her late father. When she scratched off the ticket, she was stunned to discover she had won $100,000.
“Oh my gosh, I think you won $100!” Bury said, recalling the moment. “He goes, ‘Push it back — you just won $100,000!'”
At first, Bury wasn’t sure if it was real. “I thought it was fake,” she admitted. But her daughter, Melissa Cryer, assured her, saying, “No, it’s not, Mom. I play these scratch-offs.” Overcome with emotion, Cryer added, “I just bawled. It was just amazing.”
News of the win spread quickly throughout the hospital, and the staff shared in the excitement. “There was an unbelievable eruption,” O’Hern said. “Usually, when you have that kind of reaction, something bad has happened. But this was different. It’s not always you get joyful surprises on the oncology floor, and seeing that was such a welcome change.”
Amid her battle with cancer, Bury was able to experience a moment of pure joy. “It was just meant to be,” she said, reflecting on her good fortune.
In addition to the lottery win, Bury had a successful surgery. Though her cancer is aggressive, Bury’s fighting spirit remains strong. “I’m gonna live to be 80,” she said confidently, hoping the best is yet to come.
