National Cancer Survivors Day Testimonial – Deb Kirkland, Nurse Navigator at the Northwest Hospital Breast Care Center

National Cancer Survivors Day is Sunday, June 5. This testimonial is written by Deb Kirkland, RN, MPH, CBPN-IC, Nurse Navigator, Northwest Hospital Breast Care Center, LifeBridge Health.

With the various opportunities in nursing to choose from, I never imagined that I would be working in oncology. I once thought of oncology as depressing, with not many success stories. This interest suddenly changed about 10 years ago, when, at the age of 32, I was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer; I then became a member of the club that no one wants to join.

There was a real lack of resources for women my age at the time I was diagnosed, so I started a group in the local community for young women with breast cancer, sharing support, education, and resources to others facing the same situation. Today, I still coordinate Breast Friends through LifeBridge Health, and I navigate breast cancer patients in the Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Care Center at Northwest Hospital.

Deb Kirkland with Lance Armstrong

I don’t always share that I am a survivor with every patient; I only do so if I think it will help them in some manner. Many are surprised, and their faces brighten when they see someone on the other side of treatment who is surviving and doing well. I am able to empathize with them, easing their anxiety by letting them know that once they have their final pathology back from surgery, they will also have a game plan. They feel better when they know exactly what they’ll have to face. I’m able to let them know how chemotherapy will feel, or what they can expect when their hair falls out.

After the enduring the cancer experience myself, I could not imagine working anywhere else than with oncology patients. This has evolved into my passion and I have become a stronger patient advocate. Having cancer today is not as depressing as it once was because now the survival rates are greater than ever. Survivorship and cancer anniversaries are something to be celebrated, like a major holiday.

On June 5, 2011, National Cancer Survivors Day, the Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute will be celebrating life and survivorship with the other 12 million cancer survivors across the country. The Cancer Institute will be hosting our annual Cancer Survivor Day event at Sinai Hospital in the Zamoski Auditorium from 2:00 p.m. – 5 p.m. Join us by calling 410-601-9355 to register.

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