Grace, grit and gratitude: Former nurse finds support in Infusion team

By Emma Avila, epackard1@iuhealth.org, writer for IU Health’s Metro Region

Retired nurse Sandra Lemmon found comfort, connection and compassionate care from the IU Health West Infusion team as she navigated her unexpected cancer journey.

Sandra Lemmon was a nurse at IU Health West for 12 years in the Emergency department. She didn’t expect that a few years after her retirement, she would become a cancer patient.

In February of 2024, Lemmon was working as a substitute teacher. She found herself feeling very tired. Though she’s in her 80’s, she remains active. Being tired is not a typical experience for her.

She reached out to her doctor, who connected her with her cardiologist, Dr. William Gill.

“We kept trying to figure out what was going on,” Lemmon says. “We couldn’t figure out why I was feeling the fatigue and shortness of breath.”

In late April, Dr. Gill ordered lab work. One of those tests would determine if Lemmon had a blood clot.

“It was positive, which meant I had a blood clot in my lung,” she explains.

She went in for a CT scan the next day that confirmed the clot. From there, she went to the Emergency department where she had worked for over a decade.

She was admitted to the hospital and put on a medication for the clot. Later testing led to a colonoscopy, and during that exam, a cancerous mass was found in her colon.

Next steps after diagnosis

In July, Lemmon underwent surgery that removed the mass as well as 25 lymph nodes. A biopsy showed the cancer was also in her lymph nodes.

“The surgeon said, ‘We don’t care if it’s in one lymph node or 500 lymph nodes, if it’s even in one, you should consider treatment,’” she recalls. “My father had colon cancer. Both my parents died of blood cancer within six months of each other. I was concerned, but I was never hysterical about it. I looked at it like, ‘Let’s see what needs to be done and we can go from there.’”

Lemmon met with her oncologist, Dr. Anna Roshal, in August and went over her options. In September, she started chemotherapy. She was treated for two days every other week for six months.

Care from familiar faces

Though this treatment journey was new to her, the names and faces in the Infusion Center were not. Lemmon had previously received iron infusions for anemia, so she had already met much of the team in the department.

“They were just always smiling, always sweet,” she says. “Being a nurse, I listen. They always wanted to know how everyone was doing.”

“I would say one thing that stands about our team is everyone is very genuine in their approach to their patient care, never trying to be anything they aren’t naturally,” adds Cheyanne Pritchard, the supervisor for the IU Health West Infusion Center. “To know someone with a chronic illness is to know empathy. When you hear these patients and all they go through outside of our walls, it makes it very easy to provide compassionate care.”

In November, Lemmon’s daughter, who lives out of state, became ill. As a mother, she would fly to see her daughter and then fly back for her own treatment. The Infusion team did everything they could to accommodate her.

“They would ask what I needed, what they could do for me,” she recalls. “It wasn’t just with me either. It was with everybody. I can’t express enough their caring, gentle ways with their patients.”

Ringing the bell

In February, Lemmon completed her chemotherapy. To celebrate, team members and her family came together to watch her ring the bell. It’s a tradition that signifies the end of treatment. The team even decorated her infusion area.

“When you spend weeks or months with patients, getting to know them, meeting their family, crying with them, sharing hope with them – you can’t help but be invested in their outcomes,” Pritchard says. “Sandy was a special bell ring for us, as she is a retired RN, so she knows now both sides of things. When her and the other patients ring the bell, it feels like our service to them is purposeful and meaningful, and it always fills our cup.”