$100k Thoughts from Alana

Alana Campbell is a first time Climb for Cancer Care participant. What follows is a unique perspective we don't always get: the nurse's. Alana is an example for all of us to aspire to in our daily workings, focusing in on the little things that tend to go overlooked yet make the greatest difference. Here is her story: I think it's a safe statement to make that almost everyone has been personally affected by cancer at some point in their lives, I can certainly say the same for myself.  However, beyond watching some of my own family and friends struggle with this disease, I have also watched many, many strangers battle cancer as well.  My first job out of college, at a naive 21 years old, was at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire.  It was there that I put my four years of studying to use, caring for patients on a unit that specialized in surgical cancer treatment.  I started IV's, infused cancer fighting meds, pushed drugs to battle pain, swiftly followed by anti-nausea meds to battle the pain meds...  I could go on and on.  Luckily, nursing school had prepared me to do all of this.  What nursing school didn't teach me however, that I learned during those first years of my career, was to stay in a patient's room just a little longer after pushing those meds - to hold a hand, or rub a back, as someone got sick into their little pink emesis basin.  That warm blankets and soothing CD's did more to battle pain than morphine ever could.  It was the little things that made the biggest difference.  That first nursing job was over 6 years ago.  I am proud to say that I have taken those skills I first learned and am now using them to work with critically ill infants at Maine Medical Center here in Portland.  And while I continue to start IV's, push drugs, and adjust ventilator settings - the true nursing happens when I play a lullaby CD to sooth a stressed infant, snuggle them in a homemade knit blanket and hat, or see the relief on a parents face when I give them a gas card because they can't afford the drive to and from the hospital each day to visit their baby.  All of these things may seem little to us, but they mean the world to our patients and their families, and they are often provided with donated funds.  While I don't work personally with the Gibson Pavilion, I know their patients benefit from the same small comforts that I described above.  Comforts that would not be available if it were not for the help of people like Pat and Climb for Cancer Care.  I consider myself truly lucky that I am able to join the team this year in their fundraising efforts, combining my love of the outdoors and my desire to challenge myself physically, with my passion for the continued comfort and care of the patients at Maine Med.  A big thank you to those who have and will support us, because, while the climb itself is very exciting, it is the donations behind it that give it purpose.