we are dal
Sydney Breneol, Nursing PhD Candidate
t was in January of 2010 that I found a lump underneath my right jaw. I was in Grade 10. I had the whole tumour surgically removed from under my jaw. Once I had the surgery, I was referred to the IWK because at my home hospital in PEI they were pretty certain from what they could see that it was cancerous. Within a couple weeks, I started chemo and I was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, which is a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This year marks 10 years since my diagnosis. I had an amazing group of friends that stuck by me. They would come over to Halifax every weekend that they could. I have no idea what I’d do without them, my mom, and my whole family. Even the community in PEI did a lot of fundraising for me. They knew my mom was a single parent. They showed me they were there if I needed anything at all. When I came over to do my Master of Nursing, I knew I wanted to do work at the IWK. I definitely felt a strong draw. My original research proposal, when I was writing it up to apply to Dal, was all about that reintegration piece. How do you reintegrate into your life post cancer? Once I got over here, my supervisor was doing research around children with medical complexity and that transition from hospital to home and how we can better support them in their home communities. It was a perfect fit and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since: focusing on the services needed to help these individuals and families thrive in their communities and homes.
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14 dal mag spring 2021
“ I had an amazing group of friends that stuck by me. They would come over to Halifax every weekend that they could.”
DANNY ABRIEL
We are a community of doers, dreamers, learners, teachers, builders, neighbours and more. Read more at WeAre.Dal.Ca
