My first exposure to the devastating effects of cancer was during my on-the-job training as a nurse’s aid in the mid 1970′s.  Winslow has a very small hospital. The patients come from the surrounding area. Since I lived there as a child and then our family moved to the nearby farming town of Joseph City, I knew many of the people who came to be treated. I returned on summer break while attending nursing school. One of the most dramatic impressions was from a nurse who had been part of my training as an aide, and died the summer before I graduated.  The profound sadness I felt still wrenches my heart.

Since that time I’ve treated numerous patients with cancer. As a home health nurse I developed close relationships with those I cared for – they became as dear as family to me. Occasionally I’ve been privileged to  celebrate with them as they reached remission. More often than I care to remember I’ve mourned with their survivors at their funerals. The hardest ones are always the children.

Currently I have a cousin (in-law who I consider to be my dearest friend) who is suffering from Ovarian Cancer and is now being treated with yet another kind of chemotherapy. I have an aunt and an uncle who are cancer survivors. I’ve lost one uncle to kidney cancer.  So yes, my life has been greatly influenced by cancer. [Read more...]