Final Countdown...

Only two days to go and I'll be leaving Gainesville to head to Haiti!  This trip has been in the works for a good six months now, and I can't believe it's finally here.  I am totally excited and totally overwhelmed at the same time.  I think reality finally sunk in last week and my practical side couldn't help but think...did I really just quit my job to go to Haiti?  But deep down I know that this was the right choice, that I won't always have an opportunity like this, and that making a decision like this would never be easy.  Right now I still don't know what's next for me after Haiti, all that I know is that's where I'm supposed to be for now and I'm trusting God for the rest.  Thanks for your love and support.  The next update will be coming to you from Hopsital Bernard Mevs in Port Au Prince!

"Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go." -Mother Teresa

Toys from Tyler

In 2005, when I first started working at Shands, I met one of my very favorite patients.  Tyler was five-years-old at the time, battling stage IV neuroblastoma, and having a stem cell transplant.  I got to be friends with Tyler and his family during that time and we have stayed in touch ever since.  Tyler not only defeated cancer, but has gone on to do some pretty amazing things.  He started his own charity, Toys from Tyler.  What started out with his desire to bring a Christmas gift to a friend who was hospitalized over Christmas, has grown by leaps and bounds every year.  Toys from Tyler collects thousands of toys each year to deliver to kids who are in the hospital for the holidays.  This year Toys from Tyler is going international and their first official donation is a box full of goodies for me to take to Haiti.  Thank you to Toys from Tyler!  I'm sure these toys will bring lots of smiles to the patients I will be caring for at Medishare!

Tyler, Me, and Nicole with the toys I'll be taking to Haiti

Can you even believe that these are the same kids? Time flies!

Saying goodbye

Less than three weeks to go and I will be back in Haiti!  Even though I've been planning this trip for a long time, I can't believe how quickly it's approaching.  I have just over a week left at work, which is crazy to me.  After seven and a half years at Shands, I can't believe that I only have a handful of days left working there.  It was sad telling my coworkers that I'm leaving.  But, as I expected, it's been much harder saying goodbye to my patients and their families.  Some of these kids I've known for years and have taken care of them as both a nurse and a nurse practitioner.  After going through so much with them it's definitely bittersweet to give them a hug one last time, not knowing when our paths will cross again.  When I started working in pediatric oncology, I had no idea what I was in for.  It has been the most difficult and the most rewarding thing I've ever done. 

I was examining a 9-year-old patient this past week.  I told him it was the last time I was going to give him his checkup because I was going to be moving away from Gainesville.  "Where are you going," he asked me.  When I told him I was going to Haiti, he got serious, looked me in the face and said, "does this mean you're going to be eating goats?"  And that is just another reason why I love working in pediatrics...