"Once you choose hope, anything's possible."

Dan

When I started working in the Intensive Care Unit I was extremely nervous. To see how sick patients were and all the new things I had to learn made me very scared. Luckily I had the most amazing teacher, Dan. He took me under his wing and made work more fun. Whenever I had the opportunity to work with him I knew it was going to be a fun day no matter what stress the unit was under. Dan always made me laugh and the way he cared for his patients was amazing. He always went above and beyond and he made me realize why I wanted to become a nurse. Dan made the unit fun for everybody and always brought everybody up. Dan immediately became an amazing friend and I loved how fast our friendship grew. When I started working in the unit Dan started having health issues and nothing seemed to turn up on what it could have been. After months of misdiagnosis we finally had an answer. Dan was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma with mets to his liver, spleen, and bone marrow. I will never forget the anger I had run through me when Dan tearfully told me the news. I remember being so angry that this wonderful new friend of mine was now fighting for his life. For the first day I stayed angry and spent most of my time crying. The next day I woke up realizing this wasn't going to go away and for Dan to win this battle we all have to battle with him. I immediatly started a pray line with all my friends and family. It not only brought everyone that doesn't even know Dan in the fight, but brought people together. I know God has a purpose for all this and I may not understand it or ever understand it. I always have to remind myself that God doesn't give us anything we cannot handle, and I KNOW Dan is going to beat this!! He is an amazing man who will not step down. Dan's first cycle of chemo went well and he is making huge improvements. Unfortunatly the expenses are adding up and on top of that since Dan cannot work he is losing his insurance. I know sometimes the world doesnt make sense, but now we just have to do what we can. To help Dan, my awesome friend and co-worker, Debi is organzing a benefit on March 20th from 6-11:30 at Corpus Christi. Tickets are ten dollars. We will have a cash bar, music, raffles, 50/50, and food. I am helping Debi with this event so I want to get the word out as much as possible. It is a great opportunity for people to come together and help someone in need. If you are interested please contact me for information and I will be more than happy to get you what you need. Please help be apart of Dan's victory over cancer & keep him in your prayers.


To Dan I love you very much and I am so proud of you for fighting this battle and still managing to be you. Honestly there are not enough good things I can say about you. You are an amazing friend and know that I will ALWAYS be there for you no matter what. I love you big brother!

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill