It was 2013. I had just graduated from nursing school. About 2 weeks after I passed my nursing boards, I found out my mom, S, was diagnosed with breast cancer... for the second time. She previously had breast cancer and was just shy of being cancer-free for 10 years. After already having gone through chemo, radiation, and surgeries, 10 years prior, we were devastated. This time, she had to go through chemo & radiation all over again.
She was a champ and #SStrong, as we like to call her. She has been cancer-free now for 5-years.
My mom mentioned this to us the other day - It's been 5 years. We totally missed and forgot about the anniversary of this date. All because we had moved on from this crazy experience, and we have lived our lives. She now has a son-in-law and daughter-in-law, 3 crazy grand-puppies, we've been on many family vacations together, family weddings, had some fixer-upper home improvement projects together, etc. It's crazy how much happens in 5 years.
And now I'm looking back and reflecting on the whole experience, as it was just Nurses Week and Mother's Day and her 5-year Cancer-Free Anniversary, and I truly feel our saving grace was my mom's nurse, Shar.
She took care of my mom and really, our whole family, through some pretty emotional times and all with such a calming energy.
There was one day, in particular, they were introducing a new chemo drug. Shar explained all of the side effects and the medication protocol before starting. She had to stay with my mom to monitor her while it was being introduced and my mom was to let her know if she was experiencing any symptoms. We were all talking away when all a sudden my mom's face changed. Her eyes looked all wide, she said: "All I can see are little stars". Within a second, her face turned bright red and she couldn't breathe.
Before I could even say anything, Shar had quickly turned off the medication, hit the code alarm, introducing a flood of her coworkers at her side, and administered the medications to reverse the anaphylactic shock. Within what seemed like the quickest and longest moment in my life, her life was saved.
Shar was so quick and calm throughout the whole situation. I never really even questioned if my mom was going to be okay because Shar had this under control.
It ended up being a long day. They decided to keep going with the same chemo but at an extremely slow rate. Shar was with us every step of the way. She was so reassuring and talked with us throughout the night but also let her rest.
Knowing I was a nursing student, at this time, she even took the time to fully explain everything to me and the medications she had to give and the reasons why. She was amazing.
After my mom was finally done the medication and it was time to leave, we went downstairs to the pharmacy to try and pick up the medications she needed for at home. The pharmacy was closing and they were telling us we'd have to come back tomorrow. When all a sudden Shar came running down the hallway and came to talk with the pharmacist. The medication was ready shortly after.
She was amazing and I'm not sure if she ever took a break that night. But she took care of my mom, me, and my family as if we were her own family. We were so lucky to have her as our nurse for every chemo round. It was like going to see a friend, even though it was a bad situation.
On her last day of chemo - Shar had a little cake and sparkling cider waiting for us to celebrate. It was a small gesture, that meant everything.
We huddled around for a picture to celebrate: my mom, dad, brother, and me, and OUR nurse Shar.
I now work as a nurse at a children's hospital and Shar continues to be a major inspiration for the nurse I will always strive to be.
The nurse who takes care of the whole family, is there physically, emotionally, and mentally; is a calming force in an otherwise stressful situation.
"They may forget your name, but they will never forget the way you made them feel."