StoryCorps at SHC: Maricris Dacumos, Donna Healy, Torey Benoit

It's amazing how science has brought us to where we're at and it's very rewarding to have been part of all that.


Maricris Dacumos (MD): I guess what I was most interested in talking with the two of you is because you were both here for the first bone marrow transplant at Stanford. What are some special memories?

Donna Healy (DH): So one of the things that I remember the most out of this is there was a lot of anxiety not knowing what to expect, that these patients were sicker than we ever saw, and we've already been taking care of leukemics that were just as sick as that any of us had ever seen. This was such a different way for us because these doses were crazy, and we had to convince these patients that, "It's okay. This is the right thing, and we're giving you this high doses. And, yes, you're going to turn around." And that was scary as a nurse because this is, like, taking you to the brink of, "If you don't get this transplant, you could pass away just because your immune system won't build back up." So, that was a concept that was tough and yet we were being taught this whole other way of life for treatments that wasn't anything that any of us have been used to, and there was nothing like it. I mean, you got to know the patients, you got to know the diseases and what to expect from transplant. I can't even tell you how much I feel that that was a value to me as a nurse in developing my career.

Torey Benoit (TB): What stands out for me, though, is not necessarily being afraid. It was very exciting. All these new medications that we were giving, having to try all these new protocols. I also remember though, you know, you watch the patient get sick before they get better. You know, they were in for months at a time.

MD: Right.

TB: That's not the case anymore, you know. Transplant is done in the outpatient setting. The majority of medical oncology chemotherapy is given in the outpatient setting. It's amazing how science has brought us to where we're at and, uh, it's very rewarding to have been part of all that.

MD: Right.

TB: Yeah.

MD: And you, guys, really were and have been.

TB: Yeah.

MD: And one thing that just came to me is why I'd like to ask you is what are some lessons that you've learned?

TB: Patience. These people that go through these really tough times, I'm always humbled. They thanked me. They're going through so much. So I'm always humbled by how and how brave they are and how their energy and their strength for what they go through because, oh my God, they can get so sick before they get better.

TB: You talk a little bit.

DH: I think all of that is so true. You think of what the patients go through, their caregivers, just the fact that you can make one thing a little bit better for them is awesome. it just feels like, "Wow, that was worth it." And the humbling, I think, is so true. I, I remember one year we had a patient that was walking down the hall, it was a bad day, and I was walking down, I was futzing with my hair, which most of my team knows that that means it's not a good day. I'm going out and just looking at the ground and I'm sure she sensed it. And right as I walked by, she's got a pole with probably five different pumps on it, multiple, multiple drugs went through. She's got her mask on. She's walking by me, and she just says out of the side of her mouth, "Change places with you." And I'm like, "Ooh, my gosh." I just stopped and I just wanted to throw up. I just thought to myself, "Oh, my gosh." And I did come back to her a little bit later and I said, "Thank you so much for just making me take that step, take that minute." And that happens over and over, and I think the one thing I hoped the most with new nurses, new people in healthcare, that they have enough of those connections that we are so lucky to be able to be with them during this time.



 

We'd love to hear from you.

We're here to answer your questions, schedule your recording, and guide you throughout the process. 

650-683-0589

 

*
*
*