According to the National Cancer Institute, “In 2015, an estimated 1,658,370 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States” (“Cancer Statistics”). What if one of those cases was your mother? Husband? Grandson? What if more horrifically, it was all three? For Mary Kenyon, that devastating thought became a reality. In just three brief years, she lost her mother, husband, and grandson. All three of them battled cancer, and two of the three died from the disease. Through strength, resilience, and a whole lot of faith, Mary overcame grief and shows true heroism by inspiring people and helping them defeat the same obstacles she faced.…
The time is right now for me to ensure I am able to obtain the right education so I, too, can provide the same level of care and compassion that the nurses at Children’s Hospital did for my sister. I enjoy caring for others and want to make a difference in those who need care.…
Kris Carr was first diagnosed of Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma on February of 2003. It is extremely rare and incurable Stage IV cancer affecting her liver and lungs. She has 24 tumors. Doctors in New York don’t have established way of dealing with it. Kris and her mom did a lot of research to find the right doctor to help her fight the cancer and finds Dr. Demetri. Kris had some scans done and Dr. Demetri advised that often in cases like hers they wait for the cancer to make the first move and then respond to it. It’s the absence of medical options that lead Kris to seek healing along other routes. She pursues all forms of healing that she stumbles across like healing massages, herbs, cleansing, and diet. Along the way she meets companions in other women dealing with cancer.…
Connecting is one of the most important themes in establishing an effective nurse-patient relationship (Johnston & Smith, 2006). This connection with the patient gives them someone to talk to, someone to listen to them, someone that wants to know them as a person and someone that doesn’t avoid them. These things are often difficult for family and friends to do during the end of life stages because of their own grief and lack of knowledge of supportive measures. The author’s decision to return to school and become a nurse was the result of having a wonderful nurse that did just this. The author’s 8 year old niece was diagnosed with leukemia and only lived 6 months after the diagnosis. There was nothing that could have changed the final outcome of her niece but the connection that her nurse had with the family changed the way that they dealt with everything. This is something that the author will never forget and inspired her to “pass this forward”.…
Due to a nurse, an angle at the children's hospital at UNC Chapel Hill. Filled with joy she empowered me, on a day when I was afraid of the unknown. The same nurse put me to sleep for my second bone biopsy giving me the hope to push for the next day no matter the lab results. Since then I have pursued the healthcare service trying to learn and hopefully being able to give back the hope and joy that I received. At my current age, I have learned that life is not easy. All people will face obstacles which are out of their control that will challenge their faith. Each individual has the choice to rise after the disaster and make the best of the situation. During my youth, I discovered the resilience inside of myself. Finding confidence and courage to keep fighting, pushing forward. I view it as looking for the rainbow at the end of a storm, but not dwelling on the downside of the storm, staying focused on the positive future ahead. Currently I’m thankful to report that I am a happy and health senior at Brevard High School. At my current age of seventeen the difficulties of managing my health has dissipate leading to the exciting news of being cleared by my…
With ever story of victory, comes a drowning idea of failure. Throughout our live, these battles are fought, taking not only mental strength, but physical as well. Some of these battles are chosen, while the rest flank from behind. With this in mind, a story of victory must be told, on behalf of my Aunt, Joenell. Her battle took place in April, of 2009, she went to the Suttee Delta hospital, in Antioch California for a doctor’s visit, for fear that something was wrong, during this visit she informed her doctor that she felt a not on her left breast. Soon after, she had a mammogram, and an ultrasound done, revealing three cancerous lumps. As the doctor went into detail, she started to realize the gravity of the situation. For the first time; at the age of 59, she was confronted with the most life threating event she had ever faced. So for a second opinion, she went to the Epic Cancer center, also in Antioch California. Certainly, the last thing anyone would like to hear during a doctor’s visit, she knew there would be some decisions to be made, time to study up.…
There was a lot of times that I was so cloth to give up on my dream but am not a quitter .My be the last three month was the beginning for the hardest journey I will be facing throughout my nursing school life. Now I am ready to face anything that came between me and my dream. Nothing should pull me down! However big it is I am ready to fight it .All I need is a second chance to show my ability for those who didn’t believe on me and for those who are getting ready to celebrate my…
I have had the opportunity to receive great encouragement from people in my life. This has led me to where I am today, which is the desire to become a medical assistant in a children’s hospital. Ever since I was a young girl, I have been interested in anything that is medical related. This goes from playing doctor to my dolls and friends, to becoming a certified nurse’s aide (CNA) at the age of 18. My mother is working towards her goal of becoming a registered nurse after overcoming breast cancer. I also have a cousin and a couple of aunts who are nurses whom I look to whenever I get frustrated with achieving my goal. When taking…
Hello everyone, My name is John Santiesteban and I’m currently a nurse. I am attending this class in order for me to achieve my masters in nursing. My enthusiasm for nursing first took root and flourished after losing my father. My father became very ill and needed medical care. When I saw that my father was starting to become weak and frail, I thought to myself "What access would my father have to good quality health care?" I asked my mother "Where is the nearest hospital?" and my mother replied, "It's about twenty miles away child." It was from that moment on I began to realize a desire to engage in a profession that focused on the area of helping sick people. After losing my father I made the initiative to start a new direction in my life to pursue a career in healthcare. So I decided to become a surgical tech to test my interest. After completing my certification, I was able to do a lot of hands-on work with sick…
My dad had gotten very sick. The doctors found a tumor in his large intestine. Hearing that, I felt like my whole life crashed before my eyes. My dad was such a good man that sometimes I thought why something so bad, would happen to such a good person. Doctors told him he needs surgery immediately, so dad had no other choice. He went into surgery and my mom and I were there by his side the whole time. Dad needed to stay in the hospital for a full week after surgery so we each took turns staying with him. I would come from school and go to dad, and mom would leave to work. We would take turns. This hardship was difficult for me to bare. My dad didn’t really speak any good English yet at that time, so I had to be there for him and translate everything. I knew I had to help him out. Hospital days were long. I remember sitting in a chair near my dad’s hospital bed and seeing all the nurses come in and out of his room. They were all so sweet and caring. They were all trying their best to get my dad to heal faster and get better. I remember sitting there and thinking to myself, how exhilarating it is to work as a nurse and make a difference in someone’s life every single day. From that day on, I have always wanted to become a nurse. I decided that I was going to study nursing so that I would be able to make a difference in people’s lives one day. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always enjoyed helping people. Whether it was helping my classmates with homework, helping my mom around the house, or helping my dad with translating. I always did it from the heart. I truly think that serving others is my passion and my calling in life. I went to my counselor in high school and told her that I wanted to do running start. She gladly signed me up for it. I did it for two years by taking prerequisites for the nursing program at Everett Community…
Having grown up with a father who was a psychiatric nurse I could not help but admire his wealth of knowledge about the human body. I was raised to always be prepared to take on the responsibilities of others whenever need arises. During my childhood, I supported and gave care to my physically-challenged mother who remains my daily inspiration. Through this experience, I subconsciously developed strength of character not only for myself but others who may need me. In 1998, I volunteered at the Montreal General Hospital where my adoptive mother worked in the surgical teaching department of McGill. I was fortunate to have spent many pedagogical days at the hospital. She always made sure she surrounded me with her colleagues in the medical field who encouraged me academically and she showed me the importance of a sound education. My most recent experience was when I was the primary care giver for my grandmother while she was in palliative care. This further reaffirmed my decision to pursue an education in nursing.…
Memory is a complex and varied phenomenon. Ideas about what constitutes memory and how it works can be traced back to ancient times. Plato compared memory to an aviary, and in some respects his ideas have remained little changed into the modern era.…
My best friend Leah Nepomuceno is one of the strongest people I know, especially when it comes to family. Family to her is everything and she has done all she can to try and keep hers together as a whole. We were in sixth grade swinging on the swings outside at recess, whispering and giggling about our usual gossip when she received news from one of our teachers that we knew was serious by the look on her face and fear in her voice. She came up to us and told her she needed to go the office and that she was being dismissed, she gave me permission to walk with her inside. On the short but long felt walk inside Leah's heart was pounding, her hands were sweating, and her eyes were slowly filling with tears. Her mom was sitting in the big, blue, leather office chair with many of our elementary school teachers huddled around her sharing their sincere heart felt sympathy and much needed support. Leah's mom, Deb, had found out that day that her husband Ron, Leah's dad, was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The doctor had told Deb that is was going to slowly take away all of his muscles, eventually killing him and there was no cure for it. This news was heart wrenching for me to hear, since they were my second family, I grew up with them, Ron was my second dad. "It was like the last 11 years of memories with my dad flashed before my eyes and I didn't know what to do besides think of all the things we haven't done that we need to do before he dies," Leah replied when I asked her what her first thought was when she heard the news (Nepomuceno). Just talking to her now about it, 7 years later, is still just as heart breaking and you can hear the sadness in her voice.…
I knew that I would be a good nurse. I was loving, kind, thoughtful, a good communicator, liked helping people, I was caring, and I also liked math and science. The Journal of Nursing Education states, “researchers found the concepts of caring and nurturance were identified as high motivators for choosing nursing” (Williams, Wertenberger, Hames, Gushuliak, 1997). At that time, I was working back office at a Urology office and was going to school. I decided one day that to be able to provide for my daughter if something were to happen between my husband and I that I could always support us. Therefore, my journey began.…
On the day of my younger sister’s open heart surgery, she hemorrhaged and approached death. When I went in to see her, she looked pale. Her appearance was ghostly. I could not stand seeing my baby sister lying in a bed with tubes, machines and nurses surrounding her. Tubes and machines that resembled a monster swallowing her whole. Nurses that held her life in their hands. If they stopped a clot would form and cause her death. They were pumping another person’s blood into her, saving her life. That is when I realized I wanted to be as courageous as those nurses were. I was over in the corner crying as if I were a baby, thinking it was the last time I would ever see her. The nurses were the ones that truly should have been crying. They may not…