Staff

Day after day, patients come in to receive chemotherapy treatment, passing rooms with warning signs and hospital staff in protective isolation gear. They want to know they are safe. 

They have a fear of chemo, a fear of not surviving, and then they confront the reality of living in a world submerged in pandemic in order to receive their lifesaving treatment.

My nomination is for a colleague who has been a nurse for many years and in many different areas. This has allowed him to gain an amazing knowledge base while he continues to embrace human life. 

Michael Wojcik, RN, continuously puts his patients at ease by explaining how we work as a team to keep them safe, going over their laboratory results to reduce fear and increase their knowledge, and explaining every step of their treatment. He answers the endless number of questions from patients and families. 

The patients often tell me, “Mike will watch over me and I will be OK.” They have placed their faith in him, believing that he will use all of his knowledge to help them fight their fight and win the battle. 

The patients leave their treatments with hope, knowledge and a feeling that they are special to their nurse. If they call with any concerns, they know they will be heard and will receive communication back on what to do in a timely manner. They know that they are not just a patient undergoing chemo but a valuable human cherished by their nurse and our team. They are not alone in their battle.

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Articles

Never Alone in the Cancer Battle

Some people are drawn to nursing by an experience or because they have a family filled with medical workers. For others, it just seems to come naturally, a calling that is deep within, as natural as the air they breathe. 

For Belinda Kowal, RN, CMSRN, OCN, oncology was a natural fit. 

Belinda has worked with oncology patients for more than 17 years. She loves what she does, she loves her patients and she loves supporting them and their families during the most difficult and fearful times of their lives. Belinda practices with ease; she never looks frazzled or hurried. She gives her patients her time, attention and love.

Working in the profession for more than 15 years myself, I feel it takes a very special person to work on an oncology unit. Belinda doesn’t see it that way. She doesn’t think she’s anyone special. She just knows she loves what she does.

The motto of Garnet Health Medical Center’s oncology unit is “Healing with Feeling,” and Belinda exemplifies this motto. She advocates for her patients, eases their pain, holds their hand, cheers them on and cries with them. She does whatever needs to be done. 

Her knowledge and expertise make her a wonderful mentor to new staff and a great resource for her peers. She is always willing to lend a hand, and she is very well respected by the entire interdisciplinary team.

I am in awe of Belinda and how she does not see herself as anyone special, and I would be honored and comforted to have her care for my loved one or me. She is an extraordinary human and nurse, but to her, she is just doing what comes naturally.

Doing What Comes Naturally in Oncology Nursing

I would like to nominate two angels for this wonderful award. Two, because they came to us in a pair actually a million times over. What I can say about one, I can justly say about the other. They are co-workers in the same facility, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute.

Diane Cope and Sandy Leahy are more than nurses. Diane and Sandy are top nurses in the field of oncology. You see, they were co-workers of my daughter, Brandi Riber, who also was an RN at Florida Cancer Specialists. When Brandi became a nurse, the three of them bonded immediately. 

When Brandi received a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2010 and a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer in 2014, they became three peas in a pod. Never once did Brandi enter the office to be examined or hear any news without one (or both) of them standing behind her, hands on her shoulders to brace and support her spirit, heart and mind. Brandi fought cancer for 12 years while working as a nurse and also being a patient at Florida Cancer Specialists. 

Brandi slipped from our grasp on December 27, 2021. 

Brandi was a 2021 CURE® Metastatic Breast Cancer Heroes™ award winner

 — having the disease herself, she could speak from experience. She was so thrilled to receive the special honor because it meant that her nursing life had a purpose. That is my hope for Diane and Sandy, that they receive a similar honor.

During the last weeks of Brandi’s illness, they remained strong by her side, offering their expertise not only to Brandi but also to me, her mother, as I cared for her.

Diane and Sandy offered so much love and caring, along with heartfelt tears, because of their strong work ethics and bonding. They formed an invisible circle around my child. Even though Brandi was 47 years old, both of them saw her as their own, and as a parent that could not have comforted me more.

The care and love that they gave to Brandi remain the same as they spread across the large practice room helping people whose lives dangle in a precarious position. I hope every patient and their family can feel the caring that two angels standing by a shoulder can bring.

I hope every patient and their family can feel the caring that two angels standing by a shoulder can bring.

Two Angels of Oncology

I nominated Jonlyn McGettigan, RN, FNP, for the Extraordinary Healer® Award last year and I’m doing it again for this reason: I have new things to say. Last year was my crisis year for my cancer, the year it was discovered and treated. This year has been my cure year, I guess you could call it. My visits to Arizona Oncology, where I would see Jonlyn, went from every three months to every five months. In May 2022, if I am still said to be free of cancer, I will be discharged.

Jonlyn has been wonderful during this time because she has shown an interest in me, the person, rather than me, the medical patient. How she knew to take this attitude, I don’t know, but I do know it makes me feel so positive about myself psychologically that it must be helping me physically. I think the positive feeling raises my endorphins and that may be conducive to physical health. Feeling positive about myself also makes me want to take care of my health and do what’s important to fight cancer.Maybe that’s why I’ve had such good laboratory reports.

How does Jonlyn show interest in me? By wanting to know things about me that are interesting to her. For instance: How is my volunteer job with NAMI going? (She recalls the name of the job.) Have I heard from my son? (Yes, she knows about my son.) After our discussion of these topics, she asks about symptoms and the visit becomes medical. She looks at my chart and exults over items showing perfection and progress. Finally, she will ask if I have any questions. I sometimes do. My big question at my last visit was, “How can I 

 be discharged? I like it here.” Jonlyn laughed and said I would be fine. I left feeling as though I were going to be abandoned but also that I might get over it and move on happily in my life.

I’ve had medical providers in my life who weren’t positive, who liked to scold and be negative about things I thought were going well. I’m so glad my cancer nurse was not like that and made me feel interesting. Her ability to do that makes her an extraordinary healer indeed.

Jonlyn McGettigan, RN, FNP, is, once again, an extraordinary healer. 

Staff

Never Alone in the Cancer Battle

Doing What Comes Naturally in Oncology Nursing

Two Angels of Oncology

My Cancer Nurse Took Me From My 'Crisis Year' to My 'Cure Year'

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