It was a cold afternoon in January, late on a Friday night! I was struggling with the side effects of Radiation and Chemo. My wife noticed I was quite despondent to any sort of directions and commands and very unmotivated. Out of concern, she called the Cancer Center in CDA to describe my symptoms and they said to bring me to the infusion room at the Cancer Center immediately. I agreed to go, thinking I was just dehydrated.

Once there, they took my vitals and hooked me up for some saline fluids. They also checked my blood sugar level and that is when the bells and whistles sounded as I was over 600+ in my blood sugar count. It was Lisa who was my attending nurse at the Center. She treated me with such compassion and personal care. She tended to every little detail of what needed to be done to get me turned around in the right direction towards recovery. I only weighed 121 lbs, my blood sugar was sky high and I was super despondent. Lisa treated me like a human and recognized I was in a crisis condition!!! The staff then decided because of the lateness of the hour on this Friday night and because they could not even think of sending me home, that I was going to have to go to ER. Lisa, with her complete follow through, took the extra time to go the extra mile and wheeled me all the way to ER!! [under a tunnel too]. Once she checked me in at the ER she promised me they would take good care of me!! I was in ER for about 6 hours as they had to pump me up with 6 or 7 vials of saline to get me out of the danger some. Around midnight I was released to come­ home.

It was a couple of weeks later, my daughter was visiting us from Wyoming to help with my care. I was in the midst of 35 Radiation treatments and 2 rounds of Chemo and once again I was not doing well. So off we went to the Cancer Center CDA infusion room. I recognized Lisa immediately [even with her mask on] and she once again gave me personalized care in helping get saline. [this time I only needed one hour's worth = 1 bag]. Afterward, I was feeling much better and made a point to intentionally stop by her station to personally thank her for her attentive care. I told her how much she had MADE A DIFFERENCE in my life and that I would NEVER forget it!! We both had tears in our eyes as we embraced before I left. It was then that Lisa suggested I seriously consider getting a feeding tube installed in my tummy. Lisa, I truly believe that your suggestion that day had a lot to do with saving my life!!!

It is now June---- Radiation and Chemo are complete and I am still recovering. I'm still struggling to get my appetite back and hopefully in the next 3 weeks I can have the feeding tube taken out. On Wednesday I will have a PET SCAN to, Lord willing, confirm that all the Cancer in my neck and throat is gone. [I will let you know the results] I know that a nurse's job must be same old same old same old day in and day out and you may wonder if it is worth it all? The answer is YES a thousand times YES!! You made an immeasurable difference in this 64-year-old man's life that will be forever remembered!! I've been a pastor for 43 years and often ask the same question. Is what we do important? Only heaven will ultimately reveal how many lives we have touched in this life and for eternity. From the bottom of my heart and countless other patients that you serve, I say "Thank you Lisa Kolenda for ALL you do!!"