When facing a cancer diagnosis, few people have the insight to understand what patients and their loved ones go through more than the providers who share the journey alongside them.
Sometimes the doctors and nurses who care for cancer patients are fortunate to share in the happy moments when battles are won, but often the struggle against the vicious disease brings frustration and tears at various stages. Yet, somehow, these providers wake up each morning determined to make a difference in someone’s life, and very often, that’s just what they do.
Such is the case with Denise Johnson, an RN/BSN at Aroostook Cancer Care. Johnson, who has been a nurse since 1983, has spent the last eight years working with oncology patients. She came to oncology well-prepared to work with cancer patients and their loved ones, as her most recent experience was working in dialysis, where patients and families are also seen frequently, she has also worked in many other areas of nursing. She was aware of the emotional toll the job would entail, but she also knew that cancer care was an area of medicine in need of special people.
When Johnson was making her decision to move to oncology, cancer seemed to be everywhere she turned.
“Just the prevalence of cancer – everyone I talked to knew at least one person who has had cancer or was going through treatments,” Johnson said. “The prevalence got me thinking about what I could do with my years of experience. I could apply all that I’d learned to any given specialty, but knowing the need of care givers for cancer patients, that helped me make my decision because I’d be able to help both the cancer patient and their caregivers.”
In February of 2013, Tom Clukey, owner of three Clukey’s Auto Supply locations in Aroostook, received a diagnosis of small cell lung cancer and bone cancer. A few months later, he lost his battle. His wife, Gail, was his primary caregiver at home, and she remembers the overwhelming changes his illness brought into their otherwise normal and busy lives.
“It was hard to see him go through this. He was a very energetic businessman who didn’t sit still for two seconds. To see the cancer take him over was difficult to watch,” Gail said.
When Tom was first diagnosed, Gail said they thought they had time, and they were prepared to fight. They went to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, but his decline in health was so fast, that there was little time to adjust to anything.
Tom was adamant that he receive his care close to home, so they started going to Aroostook Cancer Care for treatments, and that’s where the couple met Johnson. While Gail worked to keep their business going, she relied heavily on the providers at Aroostook Cancer Care to offer her husband not only top notch care, but also something more than just medical care – companionship and positive energy.
“Denise made him smile. He really enjoyed talking to her,” Gail said. “When I picked him up and we were on our way home, he’d tell me about his day. She was bubbly and friendly, and that’s how he was. I think he connected with Denise because they were alike.”
Johnson says the relationship between the providers and patients at Aroostook Cancer Care is more symbiotic than anything. Each relies on the other for support and encouragement.
Gail remembers how drastically their life changed when her husband went from being a business owner to being a cancer patient. Tom tried to continue working for as long as possible, but his treatments made him tired. Between Gail and many reliable friends, they somehow managed.
Johnson’s job, like other cancer care providers, is complex and involves far more than delivering chemotherapy treatments. She reviews patients’ instructions, manages their treatments and monitors their progress, submits pharmacy orders, helps them adjust to their chemo treatments and ensures that patients receive the care they require. Above and beyond all of that, cancer care nurses ensure that the patients have access to all of the supports and resources available to them through this critical time in their life. This help extends to the family, and sometimes, the nurses even embody the support and encouragement the patients or families need.
“We try to provide emotional support, but do what we can to help them through this very emotional time in their lives,” Johnson said. “The most rewarding part is seeing positive results and people responding to their chemotherapy and feeling better. For instance, a lung cancer patient who is very short of breath and can barely breathe, sometimes even after one treatment, they have relief of their symptoms.”
It’s not always good news, though.
When Tom passed away, Gail thought she might not see Johnson again.
“I was so shocked when at Tom’s funeral, I looked up and there was Denise. Every year, I participate in Lights of Life, and every year Denise brings her donation right to me personally,” Gail said. “She’s a positive, very caring, sentimental woman, who I think is really in her right field because she does have that compassion for the patients and for the caregiver. You can definitely sense that when you’re around her. She’s really funny. I love her laugh.”
As Johnson and other cancer care providers see patients and their families each day, they become, in a way, an extended family member. They share in the joys and triumphs as well as in the tears and pain of those for whom they care. Still, as emotional as the job may be, it’s who Johnson and others like her are, and she knows she would have it no other way.
“I can’t stress enough how amazing these patients and caregivers are. They get through a very difficult time in their lives, probably the most diff times in some of their lives. It’s an amazing group of patients that we have. It’s an awesome area of nursing to work and truly rewarding,” Johnson said.
