An Oncology Nurse with a Special Ability to Empathize

Dessie Brown, LPN, works with a lot of cancer patients and loves doing it because she is able to help them in a unique way. Brown has been diagnosed with breast cancer twice, first in 1992 and then again in August 2009. This Feb ruary she finished her last round of chemotherapy.

"I still feel a little sluggish, and I am still trying to get over my last treatment," said Brown, who has been a nurse for more than 21 years. The mother of a grown son and three small grandchildren, Brown considers herself pretty lucky, and believes she has a special ability to help patients being treated for cancer. The psychological issues facing patients are something that many nurses may not understand in the same way as Brown.

"With my life history, I have been in their shoes," said Brown in an interview with The Oncology Nurse. "A lot of people don't know about cancer and they have a great deal of fear. If you haven't been there, you just don't know what that fear is like. My first reaction was that I was going to die, until I realized the treatment I could get would help me. That was just a common reaction. A lot of people who come in feel like it is a death sentence."

Brown said counseling and helping patients with their care allows her to show them that it is not a death sentence. Brown works at the Medical College of Georgia Health Care Center in Augusta. She sees many cancer patients in a given week and many have advanced disease. However, she brings a little bit of sunshine to her patients every day no matter how poorly they are feeling. Brown knows from firsthand experience what the emotional roller-coaster ride is like once you are diagnosed with cancer.

Because she has been a nurse for so long and has seen so many changes in the field of oncology, Brown can bring a special kind of comfort to her patients. She usually explains to them how therapies have dramatically improved in recent years and how the side effects from their medications can be managed so much more effectively. "Things have really improved a lot in the past 20 years," said Brown. "The treatments are much better. Now, you have so many new medications that help with side effects."

Brown has been married for 36 years, and she knows the importance of having someone to care for and the importance of receiving care. Every day she has to deal with her own battle with breast cancer. Instead of letting that hold her back, however, it actually allows her to bring a special type of caring and understanding to her patients.