I recently had the honor of meeting and listening to Eric Alexander. For those who do not know, Eric has climbed to the highest peak on 6 out of 7 continents, each time with a disabled person, usually someone blind. His talk was mesmerizing, moving, and inspiring. He infused his love and trust in God into his courage to reach these peaks, all the while taking an unselfish stance to work as a team to facilitate the trek with a blind man.
Imagine the type of communicaation and trust his team required in order for the trip to be successful. One wrong command, or direction and the blind man would fall to his death. It was the most incredible experience for me. I had the pleasure of sitting at breakfast with him and felt surrounded by his warmth and strength.
I strongly urge the reading of his book.
He asked a question that I want to pose to all of you here…”What is your Everest?”

Cancer is not your Everest…not letting it win is your Everest.
Being strong is a parental trait. I am strong…I am a fighter. Fighting cancer is not my Everest…is it yours? Everyone’s Everest is different…but your strength does not waiver.

Find your Everest and conquer it.

I’m realizing its been a bit too long since my last post.  I’ll try and do better.  This post is straight to the point…it’s not for everyone.  But I am a firm believer in honesty.  Those who know my style of nursing, understand how I got to this point.  I look forward to any comment you may have…
 
But what can I do when nothing is working? 
That’s a question many families ask when their child is fighting cancer.  Think about it…your sole job as a parent is to love and protect your child; to advocate for them, to provide for them…keep them safe from harm.  Now, your child has a life-threatening disease.  Your role as a parent is challenged-challenged by the healthcare team.  They ask you questions, pick your brain, sometimes discount what you have to say.  You may feel threatened, insecure,or like some, you feel empowered.  You feel your parenting skills are put to the test and nothing can beat you down…not even cancer.

I wanted to touch on the topic of advocacy.  I can remember learning in nursing school, and during orientation at CHOP, the stress placed on being an advocate for your patient.  Think about it, as a nurse, I have the ability to be with my patient and family for at least 12 hours a day.  The nurse holds a valuable position in the care of a child…but certainly not more then their parents.
 
Knowledge is power…the more you understand about what is going on with your child, the more you can participate in their care.  And it’s that participation that is essential.  I’ve cared for so many children without family support—they rarely do as well as those with strong family ties.  As a nurse, I love when families are eager to learn.  I encourage all my families to learn and practice the care their child needs.

 
I wanted to take the time to welcome everyone with my first blog for The Purple Society.  As my profile indicates, my name is Andrea Solari and I’ve been a pediatric critical care nurse for many years.  I’ve had the pleasure and honor to get to know the Conti family during their stay at CHOP with Nitalia.  I am so fortunate to be able to share with you the things I’ve learned, not only as a nurse, but also as a mother to three beautiful children.
 
What I would like to accomplish with my blogs is to provide you with the information and support you need.  Please ask questions, send comments, provide feedback.  My blog is only going to be useful if it gives you what you are looking for.
 
Topics you can look for to be covered here will include:

•    Being an advocate for your child
•    Understand it’s OK to say ‘no’
•    What you deserve from your medical team
•    Finding support from other families

 
If there are specific things I can help you with, just ask!  I’m so looking forward to blogging with you.

~Andrea