Oncology nurses dedicated to livening cancer center atmosphere

Inside a building just off Community Hospital South’s main campus, patients are in the final stages of a fight for their lives.

About 30 patients a day enter that wing of the Community Cancer Center South where they receive radiation treatments, sometimes marking their final go-round in their battle with cancer.

Some of those patients have been through hell.

The nurses who administer the life-saving radiation treatment at the cancer center believe getting that treatment shouldn’t sap patients of positivity and energy.

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Volunteers, patients and hospital administrators have lauded the group of nurses who have made it their mission to bring some fun and a sense of peace to those receiving cancer treatment. 

The nurses — Belinda Gillapsy, Donna Raker, Kim Huddleston and Dawn Calvert — have about 100 years combined caring for patients in their most vulnerable moments.

To them, the job is to make sure patients feel uplifted and happy when they are receiving treatment. Most of the patients in their neck of the woods receive radiation every day or every few days for a month, Gillapsy said.

"We don’t want this to be an atmosphere where people feel sad and gloom," she said.

The efforts are noticeable as soon as patients walk through the door in the back wing of the cancer center. They’ll see a jukebox where therapists ask patients which genre of music they would like played during treatment. On their last day, patients can request a special song to ease them through their final treatment. 

"Just to make it feel less medicinal," Raker said.

Decorations always tell the season. Pumpkins and cobwebs were king the week of Halloween. A tree, stockings and tinsel will liven up the area during Christmas. Each patient is given candy and a gift at Christmas, and a valentine on Valentine’s Day.

Nurses host Oscar and Halloween parties for patients and plan themed days, all to help them relax during an otherwise unpleasant time in their lives.

"These people come in here and it is life-changing devastation. The last thing they want to look at is drab walls," Gillapsy said.

Annually, the nurses organize a trunk show, where vendors come in and patients can shop and sometimes get products and gift bags that will help them with the side effects of their treatment.

Part of what drives the nurses’ efforts is knowing patients will be less stressed in the atmosphere they have created, which could lead to better success with the treatments, Gillapsy said.

"(We) think out of the box on whatever we can do to meet the (patient’s) needs," Raker said. 

Patients in the center have spent months grappling with the disease and are used to doctors, administrators and nurses telling them where to be and when.

The nurses are aiming for their treatment rooms to be a sanctuary, an escape for what patients normally experience while fighting their cancer, Gillapsy said.

"Once you hear the word cancer, you are oblivious to everything around you," she said.

All of the nurses have loved ones who have gone through cancer treatment and know what the patients are going through, they said.

Every day, that drives them.

"Patients are our No. 1 concern" Gillapsy said. "(We) try to make it the least stressful as possible."