Personal Profile: A Nurse's Reflection on a Patient's Cancer Journey

This personal profile, written by a nurse, shares the inspiring story of her patient, Mary, who has been battling cancer. The essay highlights Mary's unwavering spirit, positive outlook, and determination to live life to the fullest despite her diagnosis. The nurse reflects on Mary's strength, her supportive family, and her proactive approach to managing her condition, including organizing programs to support others facing similar challenges. The essay emphasizes the importance of accepting one's health issues, finding constructive activities, and surrounding oneself with supportive individuals. It serves as an encouragement for individuals to face their health challenges with resilience and a positive mindset, demonstrating how Mary's story can inspire others to overcome adversity and maintain hope.

Running Head: PERSONAL PROFILE 1
Personal profile
Institution affiliation
Student’s name
Tutor
Submission date

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Introduction
I am a nurse, and I would like to write a story of one of my patient who touched my heart
after treating her. The name of the patient is Mary, and she has been battling with cancer for an
extended period. After having a discussion, I was inspired because this lady has not loosed hope
in her life. Many people, when they are diagnosed with any cancer, they feel discouraged and
find life being meaningless. After a fifteen minutes talk with this lady, I was triggered to write
this piece so that the people battling with cancer will be encouraged in one situation or the other.
My readers should be encouraged to read this piece because many of them will understand
certain diseases should not shatter their dreams (Major, 2016).
Mary is married and has two children. She has a very supportive husband, and also her
children take good care of her. Last year she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but this didn’t
shut her dreams. She explains that she continued going to job as usual even after the surgery.
Despite her situation, she is determined to get more children in the future. After being diagnosed
with lung cancer, she has never stopped supporting her husband and even her children. She is a
strong woman because most of the cancer patients become discouraged when diagnosed with the
health issue. She explains that she accepted her condition and followed what her counselor
advised her to do. It is a lesson that in any circumstance, individuals are supposed to accept the
situation experiencing. She says she has never experienced depression due to the disease she is
suffering from, and the medication she is taking makes her improve her health day by day. What
she perceives every day when she wakes up is that she is very healthy and very young to have
cancer. Moreover, she says that when she was sick, she just prayed to God to give her good
health so that she can continue working and also sustaining her family.

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Moreover, she added that she has been battling with lung cancer for four years, but she
has planned programs so that to encourage the individuals with cancer to stop worrying and
focus on making a positive impact on the community. First, she comments that the disease is
associated with smoking. When she was diagnosed with it, she wondered where the disease had
come from because she was a non-smoker. For the first time, she feared how people could judge
her, but after a series of counseling, she was encouraged to move on with life. She adds that after
accepting her health issue, she organized programs with her friends where they move in the
community talking to the people with the same disease and giving them support so that they can
cope with the disease (Phillips and Carstensen, 2017. This implies that sick people should take a
positive step so that they can help others move out of the stigma and fear they have in the
community. Moreover, she has encouraged so many people in the community who are hopeless,
and they have even taken the step to join the program so that they can inspire others.
Another step she adds in her life is considering not to be a cancer carrier. Though she
takes the medication, she considers them to be supplements in her body. Moreover, when she
goes for a medical check-up the doctors always remind her that she is cancer free and also she is
not a smoker, she adds that this encourages her so much knowing that she is healthy, but in her
body, she feels that something is not right. But in her mind, she understands that everything will
be well after taking a series of medication. After being counseled, she doesn’t ask doctors series
of questions but focuses on what she is being told and believing that one day she will be well. In
this, there is a great lesson even for people with minor acute disease. Encouraging oneself is
essential (Baldwin, 2018).
She adds that even when she attends chemotherapy sections in the hospital. She gets in
touch with her family members and friends via calls who encourages her that everything will be

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well in her life. She feels awful living some of the hours away from her family, but on the other
hand, she gets encouraged because she understands taking chemotherapy will lead her to a
healthy life. This implies that when sick, having people around you who provides a shoulder to
lean on is very important because they offer much of the encouragement, which is needed by the
sick patients.
When free, she spends much of her time reading inspirational books, which keeps her
moving. This means she doesn’t have time to feel lonely due to her condition. She adds in
reading those books, she gets encouragement from every corner and getting to know that many
people are battling with enormous problems than hers. This encourages her because to take a
health issue positively; it’s not easy. She also adds that she gets some hints on how to take care
of herself. Moreover, she adds that she gets much information from social media, which keeps
her moving. This means that in all situations, the people with health issues should find useful
things to do when they are free so that they can be encouraged on ways to move on in life (Miller
and Grunewald, 2015).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is a challenge to many of us who take health issues to be a strong bone to
break. It implies that accepting every situation in our life is more important. The story of Mary
encourages individuals that they should accept their health issues, help oneself every day, do
constructive work so that one cannot be faced with depression due to the problem. Creating
programs to teach others about the health issue they are experiencing in their life and letting
them know they can do positive things to improve their health. Moreover, living around people
who offer help and encouragement is also essential so that they can show love at the moment
when an individual is experiencing challenges in her life.

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References
Major, L. H. (2016). Break it to me harshly: The effects of intersecting news frames in lung
cancer and obesity coverage. Journal of health communication, 14(2), 174-188.
Phillips, D. P., & Carstensen, L. L. (2017). Clustering of teenage suicides after television news
stories about suicide. New England Journal of Medicine, 315(11), 685-689.
Baldwin, D. (2018). MS04. 02 How Is Lung Cancer Screening Evolving to Be More Efficient
and Effective?. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 13(10), S255-S256.
Miller, I. V., & Grunewald, T. G. (2015). Tumour‐derived exosomes: Tiny envelopes for big
stories. Biology of the Cell, 107(9), 287-305.