Hello Everyone!
Geraldine, Viviane, and Martine on Mother’s Day
I know its been a long time since I have blogged. My apologies. Things are going well for me. I get stronger and stronger everyday. I reached a milestone on Mother’s Day. That day was Day 100 (100 days from day zero of my second transplant). It was truly a day of celebration! Viviane and I got dressed up in our “princess dresses” and enjoyed a nice brunch with my family.
I am still going to MCV every two weeks to get my blood counts checked and I recently had a CT scan which I will know the results on Thursday. My blood counts are still all over the place. It will be awhile before everything returns to an altered state of normal. I keep hearing “be patient with your body” from the doctors. Did they not know that I have the patience of a saint? 🙂 Well, maybe not, but I am eager to start a new chapter in my life.
May 18th is a special day to me (for personal reasons) and this year, it is the day that I will be starting school. I have learned a great deal through my journey and something that I realized, is that I have a passion and a need to connect with people. So many individuals have reached out and shown me love which has fueled my passion for living. All of the support, hospital visits, text messages, emails, phone calls, all the work the people did to restore this website, cards sent to my house, flowers, care packages, and everything else is nothing short of amazing. I am in awe of this outpouring of love and will be forever grateful for it. Seeing how so many people have touched my life, that has inspired me to go back to school and pursue a Master’s degree in Nursing. I would really like to work with children & Oncology because that holds a special place in my heart.
Meeting Cheyenne and being on that transplant floor, I saw and heard many children that were also going through the transplant process. I know that life is not fair, but knowing that children have to endure and fight this disease is tragic. It is for that very reason that I am going back to school and furthering my education. Children deserve more, and we owe it to them to make the world a better place.
The road ahead won’t be easy, but I am eager to begin my renaissance.
I love you all,
Geraldine
Friends of Geraldine 
Renaissance … the perfect (French) word to describe your rebirth. I love you and am so proud of your recovery and strength.
Hello Geraldine,
Happy 100 days! It is good to hear from you and especially that you are making progress. Yes, you still need patience until you reach a stage you formerly called “normal”. Still, if you look back to where you have been in the past year and half plus, and think of where you are now, there is much to rejoice for. We all rejoice in the progress you have made.
I am delighted to hear that you plan to carry something positive out of this long, difficult saga and into a new phase of life with a new kind of motivation that goes well beyond what you previously thought about in terms of a profession. There is nothing like a case of “been there, done that” to give weight to what you will say to children and others who are struggling with cancer. As with all things worthwhile in life, it will take some more time and effort to achieve this goal, but I am confident in you that you will do it. The end result will make the world a better place.
I think of you often and send my love,
Harvey
Salut GĂ©raldine!
Ca fait bien plaisir de lire de tes nouvelles et de voir que tout se passe très bien depuis tes derniers messages! Je me rĂ©jouis beaucoup que, malgrĂ© les visites occasionnelles Ă l’hĂ´pital pour tes prises de sang, ta vie ait repris une certaine stabilitĂ© et surtout que tu puisses reprendre des Ă©tudes! Je suis certain qu’en connaissance de cause tu pourras amener une aide très prĂ©cieuse Ă ces enfants dans le cadre de ton futur travail.
On pense tous bien Ă toi de l’autre cĂ´tĂ© de l’Atlantique!
Hasta la proxima!
Boris
Master’s in Nursing!? You rock on wit yo bad self!!
You’re looking good and happy! Its so awesome that you are going into nursing, i think that is fitting place for you! Call me if you get a chance 630-5958
Rachael
Surfing the internet for a donation tracker, I came across your website.
I read a little bit of your story and I just wanted to write a tiny note to encourage you. I think your are doing an incredible job against this illness and I wish you all the best. We don’t know each other but it doesn’t matter! So you know that outside your friends, family and neighbors, there are other people thinking about you!
Keep going, keep smiling! A smile is your best friend!
Sincerely, Patricia Kalmeijer from Marietta, GA.
I saw your video on Youtube. I was actually studying when a friend of mine told me that her mom was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, so I looked it up. I knew the definition, but I didn’t know much about the treatment and disease processes. So, I figured, what better way to learn than to see videos. I somehow managed to land on yours, halfway down the list that popped up. I was immediately captivated. I meant to look into the disease quickly, for now, so I would understand it a little better and be able to encourage my friend. But I couldn’t take my eyes off your story. Suddenly, I found myself clicking on your link……..and here I am…….still!
I am a 29-year old, first-year nursing student and single mother of a 3 year old. I have had the desire to work in medicine my entire life. I started out at age 13 volunteering in my local hospital and then got Nursing Assistant certification at age 18. From there, I moved on to EMS. I loved it! But, my true passion has always been pediatric nursing (I know you are not a pediatric patient, but bear with me); I wanted to work somewhere with chronically ill children. I can remember people asking me when I was just a young girl (before my age even reached double digits), “How can you want to work in that field? How will it not make you sad? How can you not bring those emotions home with you everyday?” And, I can remember telling each and every one of those people, “If I can make my patients smile…if I can make a family smile…if I can turn a rough time in a person’s life into at least one happy memory, then I have done my job, and I have done it well!” That has always been my goal.
The first half of the video, I kept thinking, “Look at that smile. I can’t believe she is still smiling!” Then, the part of your little girl popped up, and the thought brought me to tears…you just keep smiling, smiling, smiling…and that beautiful girl is smiling with you! Then, I realized she gets it from her mom as you did from yours! You have a beautiful family!
Anyway…sorry, back to the point I really wanted to make to you today before you get tired of reading this “novel.” My patients were never ‘just’ patients to me. I had and still have a tendency to see past the variety of illnesses, cognitive impairments, and personality changes and challenges that people go through during the trials and tribulations of this thing we call life. I dig deep and get to their true heart and feelings. I have always carried my ‘work’ close to my heart, and I oftentimes end up with it being broken, but I am made stronger each and every day! I absolutely love people and have a strong desire to help those in need!
However, after watching your video and reflecting back on my life, I have suddenly realized that it’s not my job now and will never be my job to ‘help’ the sick. It is my job to learn from you! It is my job to absorb the knowledge that you and all of the other ill/recovering, strong-willed people in this world have to offer. If I can’t do that…if I can’t learn by example, then I will forever be unsuccessful at my deeply desired profession!
I fell in love with a patient once. She was 60+ and nearing the end of a wonderful, eventful, beloved life. She was a strong and giving member of the community, a leader in her church, and the mother of five. Some of the CNAs discounted her presence due to her inability to be coherent 100% of the time because of the morphine. But, not me. She wasn’t actually ‘my’ patient, but I did not appreciate the feeling I got deep inside that she felt left out and lonely. So, I would go read to her everyday (regardless of whether or not she was sleeping), do crossword puzzles with her, and visit with her family. I knew there was something special about her…I just knew it. Once, while I was reading to her, the nurse came in for meds. She knew why I was still there a few hours after my shift, but she had a question for my “Saving Grace.” The RN asked her, “Why did this have to happen to you?” My friend replied, “Why not me? I am NO better than anyone else!” I NEVER FORGOT THAT! NEVER! And, I will NEVER FORGET YOUR SMILE, DETERMINATION, AND PERSEVERANCE! I can only hope and pray that someday I am blessed with the presence of someone as special as you!!! I truly hope this message wasn’t too ridiculously long, but it was very hard to put into words the thoughts and feelings that were accidentally brought upon me, and I felt as though I should share my revelation with someone! I hope these words bring with them some compassion where maybe there wasn’t enough, some support where it’s needed even when difficult, and SOME SMILES for you and yours, Geraldine!!! Give that beautiful baby girl some hugs and love from my daughter and I!!!
–S
P.S. You will be one of the best nurses EVER!!! I have faith in you, and I know your family & daughter do!!!
P.S. For you and all of the nurses and/or nursing students out there…this is the goal of a nursing career……..
“When I think about all the patients and their loved ones that I have worked with over the years, I know most of them don’t remember me nor I them. But I do know that I gave a little piece of myself to each of them and they to me and those threads make up the beautiful tapestry in my mind that is my career in nursing.”
–By: Donna Wilk Cardillo
“A Daybook for Beginning Nurses”
Your story is remarkable, I stumbled across it in my studies for a Nursing exam. I smiled, I cried and I searched for more stories similar to yours. I pray that you and Viviane are well still. This video completely changed the way i’ll forever view wellness. Keep smiling…
Always nice and uplifting to here success stories. I am so happy you are doing well. Bless you.