Let me tell you about a nurse I worked with a number of years ago. (I will call her Judy... not her real name.)

We had worked together for several years. She worked nights and I worked days. Judy was one of those people who always liked to be busy. She lived with her husband and three daughters, loved to do crafts, and had a strong background in cardiac nursing. Several times a year she would teach tele techs and new nurses a course on cardiac anatomy and physiology and cardiac arrhythmias. She was at her best when doing this. Her enthusiasm was contagious. And we all learned from Judy.

And then one day she came to us and literally "dropped a bomb". She had cancer... actually, many years ago she had cancer and thought she had it beat. About the same time she learned of this tumor, her husband wanted a divorce. Within a month's time she was separated, her husband had moved out and she and her daughters prepared to face the future together.

Judy was feeling abandoned, frightened and was fighting for her life. But she was a very strong woman. After the initial tears and anger, she developed an unbelievable strength. She was going to fight this with all the strength she had, and all of us on the staff vowed to help her in any way we could.

She put her financial affairs in order and we all helped her move into a smaller home. It was in the heat of a Texas summer. We scrubbed floors, cleaned toilets, moved all of her belongings and helped to get her settled.

She started on an aggressive course of chemotherapy and ended up getting a bone marrow transplant. During her period of chemo, she rarely missed a day of work. At one point her cardiac ejection fraction had dropped dramatically and she would drag herself to work. By the time she got from her car to the unit, she would be very short of breath. We would put her in a recliner until her breathing improved and would cover her patients until she felt better. But she needed to work. She needed her insurance and she had three girls who had plans to go to college and she was determined to see them graduate.

We took her back and forth to doctors' appointments and sat with her when she was too weak or too nauseated to function. In spite of this, she had such a positive and hopeful attitude.

And so... Judy survived long enough to see those girls graduate and even got to see her first grandbaby born. She moved from Texas to be closer to her grandbaby. About a year later Judy died.

I miss her. I think of her often, and remember her brave and positive attitude. I also remember all the nurses who helped support her at such a difficult time in her life. We were like a family... there for each other through the good times and the bad... taking care of one of our own.