My mom recently passed away from Pancreatic Cancer. In sorting through her things, I found this form nominating Infusion Nurse Coordinator, Amanda Ary, for The DAISYAward. Unfortunately, my mom never completed the form. In her last month or two, she was much sicker than she wanted anyone to know. Those of us who loved her could tell by the urgency she had about her. After a three and a half year battle with Pancreatic Cancer, she suddenly wanted to do everything right away. She found things from her to-do list that she no longer wanted to put off...even for a day. I have included the part of the form that my mom filled out, that was on her buffet where she would see it every day. I know my mom would be upset that she never completed this form. She told me she was having trouble getting off the couch and just had no energy. In her honor, I would like to complete her nomination for Ms. Ary.
I have some knowledge of the incredible things Ms. Ary did for my mom in going above and beyond as her nurse at the chemo Infusion center at Rush Oak Park. As I said, my mom had a three and a half year battle with Pancreatic Cancer and spent lots of time with Amanda and her colleagues. My mom was blessed to have a group of friends who drove her to chemo and between her lovely drivers and, later, COVID-19 restrictions, I got to meet Amanda but I did not spend much time with her. I did, however, get to know her through my mom. My mom talked about Amanda often and how Amanda made chemo a pleasurable experience. She chatted with my mom and shared stories and encouraged her and just treated her like a friend. My mom was always very concerned with her CA-19 numbers. Even though the team told her not to be, my mom was always happy when the numbers were going down and always worried when the numbers went up.
Amanda would sometimes call my mom to tell her about her numbers and talk her through it. Sometimes, she would wait to tell my mom good news in person and it was hard to tell whose smile was bigger...Amanda's or my mom's. No matter what happened, Amanda made sure my mom was not going through this disease alone. She never let her get down and she always celebrated her wins. In fact, my mom got down to zero-evidence-of-disease in the summer of 2019 and during her break from chemo, she missed Amanda and her friends at Rush. I absolutely attribute the length of my mom's battle and her amazingly high quality of life to Amanda and the rest of the team at Rush.
When my mom died, I called Rush to let them know and Amanda took my call. While I thought I was prepared to talk about it, I quickly fell apart on the phone. Although she tried to hide it, I could tell Amanda was crying as well. She told me that my mom was an inspiration. She said that through it all, my mom taught them how she was going to live with her disease instead of the other way around. And whatever my mom wanted to do, they figured out how to best make it happen. My mom had a superhuman amount of energy and she was a consummate volunteer. She continued going to various organization meetings throughout her battle with cancer and despite what she was going through she was still always making someone dinner or baking cookies or being there for anyone and everyone that needed it. My mom had an incredible work ethic, a giant heart, a pure and beautiful soul. If my mom saw it fit to nominate someone for an award, they must be extraordinary!
Thank you so much for allowing completing this nomination in her honor.