Shortly after my sister's 45 birthday, she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Philadelphia chromosome-positive (ALL Ph+). As can be expected, this left the family with several questions, but most importantly, "What next?" As the family began down this new road, the Banner Cancer Center assigned us a transplant coordinator and this coordinator was nurse Candi Preble.
Initial meetings with her began with a flurry of questions which Candi answered and for those more challenging questions, she took note and let us know she would get us an answer; which usually my sister received later that day. One important point she made to us, "No two journeys are the same." While my sister had a large support network with family and friends, the immediate family had Candi to lean on.
The journey to transplant had its highs, its lows, and its setbacks; however, Candi was always there to pick us up, help brush us off, and keep moving us forward. Empathetic, caring, and sharing in our joys and our pains. Candi was there at every appointment to greet us with a smile and at the end every appointment encouraging us to keep fighting.
My sister received her bone marrow transplant and is progressing well. As Florence Nightingale is known as, "The Lady with the Lamp," we pray that Candi retains the strength, compassion, and love needed to be that "Beacon of Hope" for her current and future travelers in their journeys.