Taking a Drink From the Fireplace Hose

On October sixteenth, 2023, my husband Dan was identified with pancreatic most cancers. At that second, life turned blurry, and all I may hear was a whooshing in my ears. I’ve fuzzy recollections of follow-up medical appointments and telephone calls to family members for what felt like years, although it was solely a pair days, and I used to be starting to imagine that I’d be alone to determine the following steps. It was then that I heard the voice of Jill Might, B.S.N., RN, OCN.

She was on the telephone with my husband as I returned house from selecting up our daughter, and simply the sound of her voice triggered my tears. She heard my ache and instantly supplied me grace and kindness. She knew that although Dan was in for the battle of his life, his path could be dictated by the professionals and my path could be all however forgotten by most.

She got here to my help by telling me that she knew how I felt and that it will all be OK, however that’s not what she stated. In truth, she has by no means uttered these platitudes. As an alternative, she advised me that she knew it felt like a five-alarm fireplace, and but all of the helpers have been simply standing within the car parking zone and watching. She calmly defined that the urgency I felt wasn’t being disregarded, however somewhat the precision of the analysis and remedy plan wanted to take precedence.

She walked Dan and I via staging and creating our care workforce. She then stated one thing that has caught with me and can stay with me all through this whole journey. She stated, “I do know proper now that this appears like taking a drink from the fireplace hose, however I promise you issues will begin to relax and make sense.” In that second, I didn’t imagine her. Now I do know that she spoke the reality, and that sentence has turn out to be my mantra.

Since that first telephone name, Jill has been strolling with us, aspect by aspect. She checks on all of Dan’s wants, asks about my wellbeing and checks in on our daughter. She is ready to make us really feel seen, heard and honored whereas sustaining a full caseload. I’ve by no means been so impressed as I used to be after I noticed her with a room filled with sufferers, they usually all felt as honored and seen as we do. She reveals up for us all throughout our hardest moments, as if we’re the one individuals on earth.

As I depend my blessings throughout this horrible journey, I do know that what I’m most grateful for is Jill’s steering and heat.

Above and Past

I’ve had the privilege of working intently with Jill Might, B.S.N., RN, OCN, care coordinator for our liver and hepatobiliary most cancers program at Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis. I’ve been persistently impressed along with her distinctive expertise, dedication and compassion. Jill takes the time to know not solely the medical points of every affected person’s case but in addition their private lives, together with their caretakers, hobbies and stressors. This holistic strategy to affected person care has undoubtedly contributed to the constructive outcomes and enhanced high quality of life for these below her care.

One in all Jill’s standout qualities is her exceptional potential to behave as a liaison between sufferers with most cancers and their total medical workforce. She has cultivated sturdy relationships with professionals in interventional radiology, oncology, surgical procedure and numerous different specialties. Her intensive community and open strains of communication be certain that each side of a affected person’s care is seamlessly coordinated. Jill has all key personnel on velocity dial, facilitating fast and environment friendly collaboration, which is crucial within the advanced panorama of most cancers remedy.

Along with her distinctive organizational and communication expertise, Jill persistently demonstrates a real and heartfelt concern for the well-being of her sufferers. Her caring and considerate strategy create a way of belief and luxury, serving to sufferers navigate the difficult journey of most cancers remedy.

In conclusion, I wholeheartedly advocate Jill for this award. Her expertise, dedication and compassionate strategy make her a useful asset to our workforce.

The Powerhouse of Hepatobiliary Cancers

As a registered nurse new to oncology, I couldn’t have requested for a greater function mannequin than Jill Might, B.S.N., RN, OCN. Jill has been with the Liver, Pancreas and Bile Duct Program at Allina Well being Most cancers Institute for 15 years and was in oncology nursing for 18 years earlier than that.

Her function right here has been the surgical HPB Oncology Nurse Navigator. She has led quite a few assist teams, given many instructional displays on her specialty and cared for numerous sufferers. Jill exemplifies what it means to be an oncology nurse. Together with her sufferers, she is rarely afraid to have tough conversations. She has mastered the flexibility to be each stern but humble, and direct but type. She helps sufferers open their views once more to see themselves as extra than simply their most cancers analysis and as a substitute as a complete particular person — one thing that’s essential but difficult.

She is commonly the primary particular person sufferers and clinicians alike flip to for sources, as her depth of data and years of expertise are unmatched and invaluable. She is the powerhouse of our program, and the rationale many sufferers are despatched our manner. As a nurse new to this system, I’ve gotten used to strolling into clinic rooms and dealing with seems of disappointment from my sufferers, who inevitably ask, “The place is Jill?”

I imagine she is the rationale that a lot of our sufferers not solely are compliant however have the power to hold on. A lot of our sufferers have difficult remedy plans with poor prognoses, and but so many do nicely. She motivates sufferers by believing in them, assembly them the place they’re at and serving to them navigate the course when obstacles come up. She is the type of caregiver any facility could be proud to have, and any nurse could be proud to be.

My Hero in Surviving Pancreatic Most cancers

I met Jill Might, B.S.N., RN, OCN, after I was identified with stage 1B pancreatic most cancers in 2019. After receiving a confirmed biopsy, I used to be advised {that a} surgical seek the advice of was my subsequent step. Inside hours, I used to be contacted by Jill, who defined the journey I used to be beginning and set me up with a top-notch surgeon. Studying I had pancreatic most cancers was formidable to say the least, however Jill’s compassionate and thorough strategy gave me nice consolation. In truth, after my first name along with her I nicknamed her “Jill the Hug.”

Over the previous 5 years, I’ve skilled her distinctive follow-through, and I do know I can depend on her to make sure that I get the care I want. For instance, after Whipple surgical procedure, I had misplaced 30 kilos in a matter of weeks (I’m 5’ 2”), and I referred to as Jill. She instantly set me as much as meet with my surgeon the following morning, which was adopted by exploratory surgical procedure with a gastroenterologist.

There are such a lot of shifting elements when coping with most cancers, and I’m so lucky to have had Jill to maintain me organized, shifting ahead and therapeutic. She is adamant that sufferers get the very best care and doggedly tracks down whoever is required to unravel a problem.

She has performed a important function in each my bodily and psychological state. She was there every time I’ve been admitted to the hospital. This was particularly essential to me after I my most cancers reappeared, and surgical procedure was wanted to take away the remainder of my pancreas and spleen in 2021. COVID-19 was very lively, and the hospital was not permitting any guests. I used to be nervous and unhappy to be there with out my household, however Jill was there after I checked in with a pair of socks with tigers on them and once more after surgical procedure. I’ve continued to get the worth of her time and perception after I take part a survivors’ assembly each month that Jill co-chairs.

All of her effort, talent and caring have been so essential to me as I’ve journeyed via chemo, radiation and surgical procedures and the ensuing “chemo mind.” In my coronary heart, I do know that Jill has been key to my survival.

Dedication and Compassion

Jill Might, B.S.N., RN, OCN, is an exemplary oncology nurse at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. She epitomizes dedication and compassion in her career. Her life’s work revolves round going past the traditional boundaries of nursing care to make sure the well-being of her sufferers.

Jill’s dedication not solely extends to the sufferers themselves but in addition encompasses a real concern for the households affected by the difficult journey of sickness. What units Jill aside is her unwavering concentrate on each the standard of life and high quality of look after her sufferers. She approaches her function with a holistic perspective, recognizing that the emotional and psychological points are as essential because the bodily ones.

For sufferers dealing with terminal sicknesses, Jill possesses a novel potential to navigate the fragile terrain of making ready them for every thing that lies forward. In these situations, Jill’s strategy is marked by empathy and a deep understanding of the profound emotional challenges related to end-of-life care. She engages along with her sufferers and their households with sensitivity, offering not simply medical assist but in addition emotional assist throughout these tough occasions. Jill turns into a beacon of consolation, guiding her sufferers via the uncharted territory with ample grace and compassion.

Her impression extends far past the hospital partitions, leaving an indelible mark on the entire lives that she touches. Jill stands as a testomony to the profound distinction {that a} healthcare skilled with real empathy and dedication could make within the lives of these dealing with the formidable challenges of sickness and the prospect of claiming goodbye.

Bulldog With a Coronary heart of Gold

For over a decade now, Jill Might, B.S.N., RN, OCN, has supplied unrelenting care as a hepatobiliary oncology nurse to sufferers with among the worst diagnoses you will get within the most cancers world.

Though we work for separate well being methods, I’ve been fortunate to share many sufferers along with her as I work as a RN liver transplant coordinator. We’ve got shared many wins and sadly many loses collectively during the last decade. Throughout this time, I’ve witnesses firsthand her extraordinary organizational and execution expertise, her compassionate caring and professional communication with sufferers, and her no holds barred advocacy to make sure every affected person get the care and remedy they deserve. All this has been finished regardless of the fact that sufferers with hepatobiliary most cancers can and do present a serious psychological burden on their caregivers. It’s common to evaluation imaging within the morning that reveals development of illness in a single affected person, after which an hour later, you have a good time a disease-free report with one other affected person.

The psychological well being challenges introduced by sufferers isn’t the one concern that Jill — and nurses generally — routinely cope with. All of the above, and extra, is finished, regardless that she should do extra, with fewer sources. Lay-offs, nursing strikes and a lowering finances has supplied its personal points. These have all occurred, typically a number of occasions, during the last decade. This results in the tough choice of working extra time with out getting paid extra time or permitting sufferers to undergo in consequence.

I can attest that she has by no means taken the simple path. Most weeks she is going to work extra time, whereas understanding she gained’t receives a commission extra, to make sure sufferers get the care and knowledge they deserve. Given my function as a liver transplant coordinator, and sharing many sufferers with hepatocellular carcinoma along with her, I’ve heard immediately from mutual sufferers the advantages Jill supplies to them.

Nonetheless, I’ve additionally seen and heard this on a private degree. A buddy I play hockey with was taken too quickly by pancreatic most cancers. I’ve been advised quite a few occasions by his brother (who I nonetheless play hockey with), his household and from different associates the extraordinary care and remedy he obtained from Jill.

Jill merely is every thing you’d need in a care supplier. She is extraordinarily educated in her discipline, she is compassionate and caring to no finish, and it’s an absolute assure that she is going to by no means permit something however the very best to occur to her sufferers. She is going to combat proper alongside every one till the top. She is the primary particular person I’d name if any considered one of my members of the family wanted assist.

Nominations are open for the 2025 CURE Extraordinary Healer award.

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