Many of you know that besides writing fun and romantic novels, I have another job as well. I've been a labor and delivery nurse for 25 years now. It's a job I love almost as much (and some days more) than my writing job. Labor and Delivery is one of the happiest, most fulfilling areas of a hospital for a nurse to work in. But some days my job sucks. For some couples there is no happy-ever-after in L&D. Those days are rough.
Another thing some of you might know is that I'm a fluent Spanish speaker so at times I help out around the hospital by translating for our Spanish speaking patients. This is usually not a happy time either. Most times I go to the ER and give someone bad news. The other night I got called to Pediatrics. A young boy had just been diagnosed with leukemia and I had to tell his parents. It was especially hard because I wanted to tell them that everything would be okay. But as a health care professional, you can't give out false hope. I don't know if it will be okay. And that's hard.
Last year, the daughter of a mutual friend was diagnosed with this terrible disease. She was just 4 years old. The agony I saw on those parents' faces the other night must have been the same look that Michelle and Lance Hart had when they were told their precious angel, Haley, was sick. The Hart family has been through a lot in the last year. Lots of trips to the University of Florida Shands Teaching Hospital for chemo. Lots of hotel stays. Lots of nights spent up worrying. I'm happy to say that Hayley just celebrated her fifth birthday and her prognosis is very good. She is the bubbliest, sweetest, most precocious red headed little girl you can ever hope to meet.
This November, I'm going to be participating in the Light the Night Walk, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost. Team Hayley's Angels needs your help. We're very close to achieving our goal to raise $3000. Would you please consider making a donation? Anything will help. You can click on the link right here.
Thank you!
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