So much to celebrate

Life has changed a lot for me since nominating my nurse, Tish Mullen, who became a finalist in the first Extraordinary Healer Award contest in 2007. From my essay, "My Own Fairy Godmother Nurse":"...I was extremely sick and in the hospital for most of the second semester of my senior year of high school. Well, when prom came around, it was really touch-and-go whether I would be in the hospital or not. Because of Tish, I was not in the hospital, got to attend prom, stayed out late, and all of this without my ever-present I.V. backpack. This was quite a feat!She came over right before I got ready and removed my I.V. and I.V. backpack as part of getting ready (sort of a substitute for doing my hair since there was none). I put on my flowing royal blue gown and was whisked off as a princess for the evening--putting the fact that I was going into an intense life-threatening stem cell transplant in a week in the back of my mind.At about 4 in the morning, I arrived home from the after-festivities and called Tish, as I had been instructed to do. She came over and safely put the I.V. back in like it had never left.This is a small example of the type of person Tish is--caring, selfless, and trying to help pediatric oncology patients with all of her resources..."After the Extraordinary Healer contest, Tish did another overly generous thing for me. She transformed my mother's wedding dress into a custom dress for my wedding! This year, I am celebrating my six-year anniversary with Gabe Lozano, the man I took as my date to that awards ceremony in 2007. I am also very excited to celebrate 10 years this May with no evidence of cancer. I'm still deciding how I may want to honor this milestone. Last year, I completed a dual master's program in art therapy and counseling. I achieved my goal of becoming an art therapist, inspired by a woman who was my therapist during my cancer treatment. It was a long road as I had been in treatment on and off for so many years. Recently, I began working in a residential facility for children and teens dealing with emotional and behavioral issues. The children inspire me so much every day, and I feel blessed to be there.Combining my love for art therapy with helping others with cancer has led me to the opportunity of facilitating workshops for adults and children with cancer using art as the means of expression. I'm now helping plan a local young adult conference for people living with cancer this summer and will lead a session on art therapy. I have continued to do inspirational speaking, which has taken me around the country and even to Europe. I have enjoyed meeting amazing people through all these experiences.Although I still deal with many long-term side effects, I make the most of it, as I'd rather deal with them than the alternative. I'm even challenging myself to train with a program called Cancer to 5K to see how much I can push my body. It seems that if I'm busy with life, then I don't have much time to think about the lingering side effects.As I reflect back on my experiences with CURE's Extraordinary Healer contest, getting the chance to honor such an amazing nurse who did so much for me has definitely been a highlight in my journey. I continue to see Tish occasionally, and she continues making the lives of children with cancer better and brighter. I hope to be more like her!Rachel Lozano is an art therapist, artist and inspirational speaker. She is a three-time young adult survivor of Askin's tumor. Statistically, she had a 0 percent chance of survival the third time, but in May will celebrate 10 years of no sign of cancer. Feel free to contact her through her Facebook page, Rachel Lozano: Inspirational Speaker.Editor's note: Nominate your nurse for CURE's 2014 Extraordinary Healer Award at curemagazine.com/healeraward. Deadline March 28, 2014.