For Jessie Steury, battling cancer has been about learning to show herself some grace and take the quiet moments she needs to recover.
“It is scary,” she said. “But you’ll get through it, and you just need to go one day at a time. When you need to rest, you need to rest. I’m a mom of three, so one of the hardest things to do was to slow down. It wasn’t until my last chemotherapy treatment that it set in. [I said] I’m not going to do anything after this treatment. My husband has it under control. And that was the first time I felt OK. I felt better quicker after I had given myself the time I needed.”
A design with a message
Every year, the Parkview Packnett Family Cancer Institute and Parkview Health Foundation team up to offer a shirt designed by a cancer institute patient, to raise funds that support those fighting the disease.
Jessie had a clear vision for what she wanted to submit for consideration. “The design was something I had in my head throughout my whole treatment. I would think of the transformation a butterfly goes through. When I needed to rest, I would tell myself this is my cocoon phase. Someday, this will be over. We’ll get through it.”
She knew that the treatment would take the time it took, and that she had to be patient with the process and her body. “I told myself I’d be a better person afterward. I’d be stronger. I tried to visualize that and think that hopefully I’d come out a better version of myself.”
An important cause
“The Parkview Health Foundation and Parkview Packnett Family Cancer Institute have had a long-standing partnership to support patients,” Denise Andorfer, director, Parkview Health Foundation, said. “We partner with navigators to learn about the urgent needs of our patients. When supporters rally around them, it creates hope that patients need to take the next step toward recovery.”
When purchasing the t-shirt, you can also choose to donate to the Parkview Health Foundation’s Transformative Cancer Care Fund (TCCF), which helps patients by providing wigs and beanies, nutritional supplements, gas cards, Community Harvest Food Bank vouchers and more.
Get your shirt!
Jessie hopes that her design will help others and inspire those who can show their support to patients battling the disease to do so. “As tough as it has been, Parkview really has been great. Everyone is so compassionate from the moment you walk in the door. They made it the best it could be.”
This year’s Parkview Packnett Family Cancer Institute t-shirt can be purchased at any Parkview gift shop or online.
