Pablo Otero
June 2021
Pablo
Otero
,
RN, OCN
Cancer Center
Samaritan Medical Center
Watertown
,
NY
United States
Pablo wasn’t afraid of me; he joked and tried to get me to laugh and distract me not just from cancer but from the intense anxiety I’ve always suffered in life.
Pablo has been taking care of me in the infusion room of the cancer center. There are no assigned nurses, but he is usually there or around on my immunotherapy days because he knows I’m usually terrified and even now still hate getting an IV put in. I don’t know how to describe this relationship that started with me being very ill with stage 4 lung cancer and continues to this day with me in remission.
In the beginning, I was always the sickest person in the room. ECOG 4 stage 4 lung 70 pounds Foley catheter trach PEG tube unable to walk... tumor crushing my right lung I was a mess! But unlike others Pablo wasn’t afraid of me; he joked and tried to get me to laugh and distract me not just from cancer but from the intense anxiety I’ve always suffered in life. Cancer magnified that in a way I cannot describe. But somehow he’d get me to laugh to forget about things for a while. And with each infusion I got better. And better. I was already in partial remission 90% of the above reversed all the tubes removed and walking again. And I ran into the infusion room with my CT results and cried when he read them.
So now we focused on continuing the treatment that gave me my life back. I’m described as a medical miracle because I left an ICU on Hospice with 2 weeks to live and wound up... all better. But I wouldn’t have gotten here without Pablo. My anxiety was far harder to fight than even cancer. As you must realize within 3 months of my great scan news the word of Covid would spread through the hospital. I would lose the ability as everyone would of having my husband next to me during infusions. And the first infusions like that I was paralyzed with fear. But Pablo would sit with me as long as he could talk and distract and joke and get me strong enough to get through the waiting and then the infusion. And then the transition... what used to be social events my infusions now with masks and social distancing was sad lonely.
At the cancer center, there are usually 2 nurses per unit (10-12 chairs) but Pablo always made time for me because he knew I needed a friend. Not a nurse. And through all of this, he’s been both. He’s explained my labs watched the onset and landing of immunotherapy-induced thyroiditis but mostly he’s watched me go from dying to alive to coming back to life. And each infusion was hard, but I went because I knew he’d help me get through. And he did. This summer I will have my story told. And I realize that there likely won’t be mention of Pablo. I wanted to do something to let him know I am so grateful. Not just for the days I came in crying and left laughing. But because I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t taken me under his wing and not given up and not let me give up. Being an oncology nurse I’ve seen is a rarely rewarding underappreciated calling. They carried us the cancer patients through treatments for well over a year now that we’ve marched into hospitals the healthiest of people wouldn’t go near in the bad days especially here in NY. We fought together. Anything and everything we had to go get here. And I dearly want him to be recognized because as hard as being an oncology nurse is being my nurse is a nightmare. Anyone can be there for you for a burst of time. It takes the kindest of heart to stay and fight an illness with you for over a year and a half.
In the beginning, I was always the sickest person in the room. ECOG 4 stage 4 lung 70 pounds Foley catheter trach PEG tube unable to walk... tumor crushing my right lung I was a mess! But unlike others Pablo wasn’t afraid of me; he joked and tried to get me to laugh and distract me not just from cancer but from the intense anxiety I’ve always suffered in life. Cancer magnified that in a way I cannot describe. But somehow he’d get me to laugh to forget about things for a while. And with each infusion I got better. And better. I was already in partial remission 90% of the above reversed all the tubes removed and walking again. And I ran into the infusion room with my CT results and cried when he read them.
So now we focused on continuing the treatment that gave me my life back. I’m described as a medical miracle because I left an ICU on Hospice with 2 weeks to live and wound up... all better. But I wouldn’t have gotten here without Pablo. My anxiety was far harder to fight than even cancer. As you must realize within 3 months of my great scan news the word of Covid would spread through the hospital. I would lose the ability as everyone would of having my husband next to me during infusions. And the first infusions like that I was paralyzed with fear. But Pablo would sit with me as long as he could talk and distract and joke and get me strong enough to get through the waiting and then the infusion. And then the transition... what used to be social events my infusions now with masks and social distancing was sad lonely.
At the cancer center, there are usually 2 nurses per unit (10-12 chairs) but Pablo always made time for me because he knew I needed a friend. Not a nurse. And through all of this, he’s been both. He’s explained my labs watched the onset and landing of immunotherapy-induced thyroiditis but mostly he’s watched me go from dying to alive to coming back to life. And each infusion was hard, but I went because I knew he’d help me get through. And he did. This summer I will have my story told. And I realize that there likely won’t be mention of Pablo. I wanted to do something to let him know I am so grateful. Not just for the days I came in crying and left laughing. But because I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t taken me under his wing and not given up and not let me give up. Being an oncology nurse I’ve seen is a rarely rewarding underappreciated calling. They carried us the cancer patients through treatments for well over a year now that we’ve marched into hospitals the healthiest of people wouldn’t go near in the bad days especially here in NY. We fought together. Anything and everything we had to go get here. And I dearly want him to be recognized because as hard as being an oncology nurse is being my nurse is a nightmare. Anyone can be there for you for a burst of time. It takes the kindest of heart to stay and fight an illness with you for over a year and a half.