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Cancer. It’s my life’s work. My calling. It’s a word that makes people shudder. It’s a life changing diagnosis. Once the word cancer is uttered by a provider, that patient’s life will never be the same. Their world is suddenly turned upside down by just one word. Cancer. I devote hour after hour to provide the best care possible, both indirectly and directly, to cancer patients. To me, this is the reason God put me on this earth. I can, and have previously on this blog, gone

To oncology care providers: you matter. You change the lives of people, many of whom have limited time left on earth.

If you ask any of us who feel called to the oncology field, we simply answer, "I was made to do this."

This week has been an incredibly long one. I don’t know exactly what it is about getting older which makes things always a little more sentimental. We get a little more serious. We realize the things that were important in our youth, aren’t really AS important on the grand scheme of life. On Wednesday, I caught myself saying “Is tomorrow only Thursday?” and Thursday came and I wished so much I could take back those words. We are drawn to certain people in our lives that touch

The patient walked into the clinic for fluids. It had been a few months since I had that feeling in my gut. Any nurse can tell you about that feeling. It is this awful feeling in the pit of your stomach. It comes even when there is nothing clearly telling you why it is there. You just know you need to keep a close eye on that patient. So you do. You keep watching for something to indicate why your gut alarm has gone off. One of my nursing professors told me that the gut feeli

This is a guest blog from Erin E. She currently resides in Grand Rapids, MI with her family where she works on an inpatient oncology unit. I (Erica) am honored to call her not only a colleague but one of my dear, dear friends. Your heart is an inspiration, Erin! People often ask how I chose to work in oncology. I usually tell them my story and what brought me to Grand Rapids and my oncology patients. The truth is, oncology chose me. As a new nurse, I was hungry to work. I was

I have never walked in your shoes, and I hope I never will. My heart aches that you have to go through this right now! I have one, soon to be two children and there is no way for me to even imagine what you must deal with every day. The thoughts, the hopes, the disappointments, and the exhaustion must be overwhelming. Source When I was 8, my grandfather died of cancer. I had no idea what was going on though. He came to live with us; my mom took care or him. Life went on. That

It was Friday afternoon in the midst of a crazy day at work when the e-mail came through. An e-mail that absolutely 100% threw me into a panic. It was an offer to speak with a huge oncology research center about working for them. It is a place that doesn’t seek people out, people seek them out and pray that they get considered. Why me? How did they find me? Why now? In fewer than 48 hours I will step foot on the soil of my last long-term home: New Jersey. Everything about New

Dear Young Adult Cancer Patient, I can’t pinpoint the exact moment, but you have captured my heart. Through my 2.5 years of nursing you have taught me far more than I could ever imagine. You have wisdom beyond your years and truly know what it means to live. I remember the first time I saw an age younger than mine in the chart, it was a harsh reality. Despite being young, vibrant, and healthy you were still diagnosed with cancer. You weren’t even a smoker and you had lung can