Warren barber battles lung cancer with faith, positive attitude

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chad Thompson
  • 90th Space Wing Public Affairs
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  A red and white candy-cane striped sign spins inside a store.

Upon entering, a bell chimes and laughter and talking is heard throughout the room.

"Who's next?" a lady asks, and a man gets up, walks over and sits down in the chair.

"What can I do for you, sweetie?" she asks.

"I'd like a high fade, trim the top, and can you use one of those straight razors on my neck?" he asks.

"Sure," she responds as she smiles. "How's your family doing?"

This has been the life of a barber who has worked here for about three years.

But something changed her life; she was diagnosed with cancer in early January.

Zelda Gavins, owner of Z's barbershop in the Trail's End Club, has been battling lung cancer for about four months.

The cancer was discovered when she was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia.

"It might sound strange, but I'm thankful I got sick with pneumonia, because had I not gotten sick, the doctors might not have been able to find the cancer so early," Mrs. Gavins said.

When she visited the hospital, her customers didn't know where she had gone. Most people thought she was on vacation, Mrs. Gavins said.

During the first few weeks she was in the hospital, she had a lung collapse and was taken to the intensive care unit.

Some of her customers heard she was in the ICU, and they rushed out to support her.

Mrs. Gavins said, after she woke up from surgery, all she could see were balloons, flowers and cards from everyone who was there.

"You expect something like that from family," Mrs. Gavins said. "But having my customers show up like that to support me was so unexpected.

"I really didn't know how much everyone cared, and the love and support has been a little overwhelming," she explained.

Mrs. Gavins has been undergoing monthly chemotherapy since being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Chemotherapy is a drug treatment used to kill cancer cells and prevent cancer from spreading. Some common treatment side effects are fatigue, nausea, vomiting, decreased blood cell counts, hair loss and mouth sores.

Mrs. Gavins said the hardest part about the chemotherapy has been the hair loss.

She said she woke up one day and there was a big patch of hair on her pillow. So she decided to call her brother and have him help her cut off her hair.

"I shaved my head so I wouldn't have to see my hair falling out," Mrs. Gavins said. "A lot of my customers have said I look good without hair, so that helps."

One thing she said she has learned from all this is to not take anything for granted.

"I hope to live every day to the fullest, and I can't take anything for granted because tomorrow is not promised to anyone," Mrs. Gavins said. "Every day I wake up and thank God for another day.

"And I thank him for all the love and support my family has given me and the support the military has shown," she added.

The support hasn't stopped. Mrs. Gavins still receives phone calls, encouragement cards, flowers and candy from family, friends and Airmen.

Keeping that dedication and positive outlook is paramount to recovery, she said.

"You can't let fear set in," she said. "With fear, comes doubt. You have to keep faith that you will get better. I can't wait for the day that I can say that I had lung cancer, and now it's gone."