The hardest part of these nurses’ jobs is also the most rewarding

There’s no clear path when it comes to breast cancer treatment. Newly diagnosed patients are often unsure where to turn. Nurse navigators try to make the process a little bit less scary.

“We’re kind of that liaison that’s gonna help them go through — as soon as they’re diagnosed, all the way through ‘til they’re finished,” said Kimberly Lewis, an oncology nurse navigator for Coliseum Health System.

Nurse navigators like Lewis guide breast cancer patients through the twists and turns of treatment, offering words of encouragement or a shoulder to lean on at every step. They take notes for patients during meetings with physicians, break down medical jargon into easy-to-understand terms and answer anxious phone calls the night before a big surgery.

They’re the unsung heroes of the oncology department, catering to their patients’ every need, even after they leave the office for the day. Patients become friends, and lines blur between the professional and the personal.

That’s the hardest part for Lewis. But it’s also what makes the job so rewarding.

“It is a burden, and it is emotional,” Lewis said. “But honestly, I think every day we’ll say that. We’ll say, ‘This is why we do that.’ Because every day I’ll have a patient that, at the end of the conversation, will just absolutely look at me and give me the biggest hug and just be like, ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. You have made me feel so much better.’”

Teresa VanHorne knows what it’s like to feel lost in a system that’s difficult to maneuver. The Navicent Health nurse navigator has been breast cancer free for nearly 10 years, and she wishes she had received the same support when she was in treatment. As a survivor, VanHorne said, she can connect with her patients on an intimate level.

“It’s almost like you can see a sigh of relief in somebody’s eyes when you tell them, you know, ‘I’ve been there. ‘I’ve done that. I know exactly what you’re talking about. And I’m doing well,’ ” VanHorne said.

Coliseum Health System and Navicent Health each have three nurse navigators in their breast cancer units, though their services vary. Coliseum’s navigator program spans from diagnosis until survivorship, while Navicent’s focuses primarily on the period leading up to surgery. The first days after diagnosis can be the most stressful, VanHorne said.

“One worry that I hear patients saying is, you know, ‘How soon can we do this? Let’s hurry up and, you know, take it out. Let’s get started,’ ” she said. “And so, we kinda have to, you know, tell them, ‘Let’s take it step by step. Let’s make sure that we get all of our ducks in a row.’”

Both VanHorne and Lewis try to help their patients see the bigger picture and also focus on the present moment.

“The anticipation is what’s hard for people — not knowing what the next steps are,” Lewis said. “And once they know that and they have a plan, they feel much more secure and much less anxiety.”

Former patient Sabrina Griffin called Lewis “the Google of breast cancer.”

“She was a lifesaver,” Griffin said. “I mean, she just walked me through, you know, what my treatment plan was gonna look like, you know, how life was gonna be for the next six months.”

Lewis reminds patients that their diagnosis doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Breast cancer is treatable, even curable, she said, especially if caught early.

But some days it’s hard for Lewis to remain hopeful. Occasionally former patients who have been in remission for years come back with a new diagnosis of metastatic cancer, and Lewis has to go through the process with them all over again.

“It’s really hard because you really know that person,” Lewis said. “You know that family. And now you’re going through that next chapter.”

Lewis leans on the rest of the oncology team for support. Chocolate helps too, she said.

“On my way home, if I have a really difficult case, that’s when I might blare the music and have a little cry on the way home,” Lewis said.

It’s easy to feel burnt out, she added. But her patients remind her every day why she loves her job.

“You meet somebody and they’re so scared and they come in and they’re crying, their family’s crying, but when they leave after just that first meeting, they now have hope,” Lewis said. “They now know that everything’s gonna be OK. They have a plan. They know how to conquer it.”

Though she’s had the same conversation with patients hundreds of times, it never feels scripted.

“Every story was totally unique. And I just feel like I was able to help them and their family,” Lewis said. “That’s very rewarding.”

Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member and reports for The Telegraph with support from the News/CoLab at Arizona State University. Follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/smax1996 and on Twitter @samanthaellimax. Learn more about Report for America at www.reportforamerica.org.