FIGHT ON 2 FRONTS
Cancer hasn’t benched nurse in COVID-19 battle
When she was a little girl, Tiffany Thompson would accompany her parents to volunteer at local nursing homes after Sunday service.
It was there that she developed a passion for helping people and subsequently the desire to become an oncology nurse. Whether it’s treating breast cancer patients, holding their hands as they took their final breaths or assisting COVID-19 patients, nursing is her calling, her ministry. It’s what God created her to do, said Thompson, an administrative director of nursing and respiratory care at Soin Medi
cal Center and Greene Memorial Hospital.
That’s why she’s determined not to allow anything to prevent her from fulfilling that goal. Not breast cancer or a deadlyworldwide pandemic.
During this challenging year, Daytonians have persevered and helped one anotherout. Throughout the month of December, the Dayton Daily News is telling the stories of individuals who have
inspired others, a series called Inspire Dayton.
Thompson, 48, of Kettering and a nationally certified oncology nurse, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2019. Since then, she’s had three surgeries — the latest wasMonday — five months of chemotherapy, 25 rounds of radiation treatment, 12 months of targeted therapy and more than 90 doctor visits. She’s been doing well, and had returned to a somewhat regular work schedule.
She experienced a setback on Wednesday as she and her husband, Tom Thompson, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Tiffany Thompsonwould have likely had a poor outcome had she been infected a fewmonths ago, as shewas in the high risk category for the virus because of her low blood count from her cancer treatment. Right now, she said the virus feels like a bad flu but appearsmild so far compared to cases she’s seen at the hospital.
The cancer treatment slowed her down, but it did not stop her momentum. Between doctor and hospital visits, she helped set up threeCOVID-19 units at Soin.
She also spends time talking tootherbreast cancer patients, and she’s chaired the regional Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser, the Power of Pink Campaign with the America Cancer Society.
Tiffany Thompson married at 17 and had her first child in her late teens with barelyhad ahigh school education. The family struggled financially. After more than
a decade of officework, she decided to go back to school to pursue a nursing career. Now she is working on her doctorate in nursing with an emphasis on population health leadership.
“I felt Godwas calling me to do this,” she said. “So I don’t take it lightly. I have very strong convictions about the work that I do. It gives my life somuch purpose and meaning, and it’s so meaningful to my faith journey that itwas extremely important for me to continue in whatever capacity I could.”
In 2019, lifewas goingwell for Tiffany Thompson and her family after overcoming so many obstacles early on. So she couldn’t understand why God would allow cancer to disrupt her life.
“My feelings were really hurt, I was so hurt at God,” she said. “I didn’t understand why He opened so many doorstop lace me in my position( at Kettering Health Network) just to endure a cancer diagnosis .”
Given the breast cancer risks, Tom Thompson feared for his wife, but he knew she was a fighter, and she’d make the best of it.
“From the onset of her diagnosis, as a husband I was gravely concerned about losing my person, my best friend,” Tom Thompson said. “Tiff was using this experience as an education, constantly evaluating the system, the processes and the physical and emotional impacts to learn howto better serve those who weren’t as fortunate.”
Tiffany Thompson had a double mastectomy. She then startedworking a flexible schedule at the hospitals. After each chemotherapy session, she’d take several days to recover. She’d then work from home for a couple of days and return to work for two weeks.
During that time, Tiffany Thompson became neutropenic, meaning her white blood count dropped to extremely lowlevels, putting her at a high risk for infection. So given the pandemic, there were times when she stayed away fromthe hospital andworked from home.
Her colleagues have remained supportive of her throughout her ordeal. She’s been an important leader andteammember, said Erica Schneider, certified nursing officer and vice president of patient care at Soin and GreeneMemorial hospitals.
“Through her journey, Tiffany remained a valuable leader and friend to all of us,” Schneider said. “We have prayed for her each step of theway and cheered for each milestone victory. We are stronger and a better teambecause of Tiffany.”
As the coronavirus pandemic worsened, she continued to lead her team. Doing suchwork virtually at times was challenging.
“I didn’t want to let the cancer stop me from doing what I know that I’ve been called to do,” she said. “It was extremely humbling, because I had to ask for help, which Ihad never done verywell, but I learned a lot through it.”
Tiffany Thompson is grateful to her husband for standing by her side and believing in her when she didn’t believe in herself at times. She’s also grateful to her colleagues for being supportive and flexible.
Butmost of all, her seven grandchildren inspire her. She feels blessed to have seen all of her children grow up to have kids of their own, and those grandchildren gives her extra strength to keep going.
“When I was going through some of theworst times, and some ofmy hardest days of chemo, and Iwas neutropenic and I couldn’t be around the kids, I could just FaceTime them, and it would make all the difference,” she said. “So I said all along that theywere the bestmedicine, they could have had and I enjoy every minute I have with them.”