KL is a 44-year-old woman, wife, and mother of four young girls who was diagnosed with lymphoma two years ago. She underwent multiple cycles of chemotherapy which left her very sick with repeated admissions for supportive care between treatments.
Shannel treated her multiple times during her cycles of treatment both in the doctor's office and on the Oncology unit. She became close to KL and soon realized that they shared the same birthday. They celebrated together whenever KL was on the unit receiving her treatment near their birthday.
KL completed treatment but lost some teeth as a side effect of the treatment. Feeling awkward, she smiled less and covered her mouth when she did smile. Shannel wanted to get KL her smile back and brainstormed with her co-workers. While attending the National Oncology Conference in Washington, DC, she came up with an idea. She ordered and sold T-shirts that read, "CANCER PICKED THE WRONG PERSON TO MESS WITH" and sold them on her own time to as many people as she could. She raised more than $400. This selfless nurse planned a birthday party and paid for food and cake to celebrate with the staff and KL's family. She presented KL with the check to restore her beautiful smile.
Note: This is Shannel's 2nd DAISY Award!