Marilyn K. Stade

Patricia Beaty, M.P.H., RN - PHOTO BY BECKY BROWN

At the age of 29, I found out I had breast cancer. I was hospitalized the Monday before Thanksgiving, and an anesthesiologist came and took me down to surgery at 10 a.m. When I got back to my room, I could hear people talking around me. I heard a nurse say, “She should have been awake by now.” The anesthesiologist and doctors would come check on me and see how I was doing. When I finally woke up, I did not want to face reality. The cancer and chemo treatments took a toll on our lives.

While I was in the hospital, a nurse named Patricia Beaty took care of me. She shared her secret with my husband, his mom and me: God has a purpose for putting people in our lives at the right time and a purpose for what we go through in life. Even though we don’t understand his purposes for what we go through, God does.

While Patricia took care of me, she always had a smile; she had a positive attitude then and still does. Patricia went above and beyond her job to take care of me. She has been a godsend.

To this day, we keep in touch. Patricia told me in an email that I was her first patient with cancer and that I went through a horrible time that year.

Patricia is an inspiration and an example to me. She makes an impact on my life.

I’m thankful that God put Patricia in my life. She is like a sister to me, and we have an everlasting friendship. She touches the lives of others, and she is an extraordinary healer.

Articles

An Extraordinary Healer essay honoring PATRICIA BEATY, M.P.H., RN [TRAVELING NURSE BASED IN OHIO]

The Oncology Nurse Is an Inspiration and an Example

From left: Marilyn K. Stade and Sally Stade, RN PHOTOS BY JESS ADDINGTON

At the age of 29, I had breast cancer. My husband’s mom and dad came to Alamogordo, New Mexico, to be with us. I had surgery the Monday before Thanksgiving in November 1989. It took me a long time to wake up. My mother-in-law, Sally Stade, stayed with us to help take care of me, because I had a drainage tube in me. She was a tremendous help to us.

Sally worked for Silver Bell Pawn Shop, and while she was there, something told her she should become a nurse. She studied hard to get her GED diploma. After that, she went to college to become a nurse. The classes she had to take to get into nursing weren’t the easiest, but she passed and got into the nursing program at New Mexico State University in Carlsbad. Those classes weren’t easy, either, but once again, our mom passed them. She worked at the hospital in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

In February 2003, I had breast cancer a second time. It was a new breast cancer. Sally saw what a toll the cancer and chemo treatments took on our lives both times. The first time I had cancer, I couldn’t use my right arm. She and my husband pushed me to do my arm exercises. The second time, she taught me how to do my drainage tube.

Sally Stade is a very compassionate, understanding, loving person. She has made an impact on my life, as well as on the lives of others. Sally is an excellent nurse who makes a difference. I’m thankful that she was there for me both times I had cancer.

An Extraordinary Healer essay honoring SALLY STADE, RN [RETIRED; CARLSBAD MEDICAL CENTER AND VISTACARE HOSPICE, CARLSBAD, NEW MEXICO]

Marilyn K. Stade

The Oncology Nurse Is an Inspiration and an Example

Something Told Her to Become a Nurse

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