Stafon Jackson-Bishop entered her party surrounded by family and friends. She has fought cancer on three separate occasions.
Signs of love and encouragement were all around and Jackson-Bishop also got exactly what she wanted -- her flowers given to her now and not at a funeral.
"I feel so loved,” she said. “Words cannot describe how I feel."
Her friends were grateful to be able to show her this love.
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“To see her smile,” friend Kimberly Linzy said. “She smiled for 11 years in this fight. Her smile is contagious. You saw it. It means everything for her to be here today and smile like this.”
Jackson-Bishop’s battle with cancer started in 2010 with colon cancer. Then ovarian cancer in 2013. Now, she has lung cancer and doctors have told her there is nothing more that can be done.
Still Jackson-Bishop fights at the same time she’s spreading awareness.
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"What really gave her strength is motivating other people and that's her way of stepping out,” her daughter Kaila Dowdell said. “What she means by that is just living out loud. She made sure people are aware of not just colon cancer but all cancers."
Jackson-Bishop remains faithful and believes that even during this time doctors don’t always have the final say. So, she gives this piece of advice to anyone else battling cancer.
“Keep fighting,” Jackson-Bishop said. “Keep fighting. Don’t put your gloves down for nothing.”