N.C. Nursing Student, Cancer Survivor Eager to Return Kindness

May 10--HICKORY, N.C. -- When Kendayl Waugh was 17, she wasn't thinking of what colleges to apply for or how great her senior year of high school would be. She was wondering if she would live to see her senior year. Five years later, she is graduating from Lenoir-Rhyne University with a degree in nursing.

Waugh, 22, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma after she was unable to run around the softball field with her team during a warm-up before practice.

"We would take a lap around the field and usually everyone would be talking, but I was doubled over, unable to breathe," Waugh said. "I thought I was just out of shape."

However, she also had a knot on her neck -- one sign of the cancer, which includes swelling of the lymph nodes. She waited to see if it would go away and when it didn't, Waugh went to the doctor. They did a CAT scan on her.

"They told me the scan messed up and they needed to do another, but they said that because they wanted to do a full body scan to see if the cancer had spread anywhere else," she said.

Waugh can still remember the exact day she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma: March 30, 2007. She was taken to Brenner Children's Hospital in Winston Salem the following day and told she had stage 2 cancer, with it in her neck and a mass in her chest. She stayed in the hospital a week, and then returned for 16 weeks of chemo and 14 weeks of radiation. By June, Waugh was in remission.

She also managed to graduate the following year, and was even recruited by Lenoir-Rhyne University to play softball at the school. Waugh said she liked how the staff at the school cared about their students.

"I never stopped playing softball, even through treatment. I only missed one game," Waugh said. "I wasn't the same player, but softball is what led me to the school."

She admits she wasn't quite the same player she was -- her coordination and balance had changed a bit from before she had cancer -- but she was still able to play. And she also began thinking about what she wanted to do with her life.

Her mother is a nurse, and her time at Brenner's made her think about becoming one, as well.

"I saw how they cared for the kids, and it pushed me to it, too," Waugh said. "Nurses are the sergeants, they know what's going on. When I was there, they had so much joy going on, even though patients were dying. Working with kids and working with cancer, there's no way you can be called into that field if you're just looking for a job."

Waugh stopped playing softball after her sophomore year, wanting to focus on her studies for her nursing degree.

"I wanted to mold myself into the best nurse I could be," she said.

When the time came for an internship her senior year, there were several options. Waugh hoped she'd get the chance to be at a larger hospital, preferably Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem.

She landed the plum job of being only one in her class to intern at Brenner's, and on the same floor she received her treatment.

Waugh said when Brenner Children's Hospital offered the internship spot to one student, all of the professors discussed it and agreed it should go to Waugh.

"It was a very personal experience," Waugh said. "It was cool to be on the other side of the desk."

She interned at the hospital for 120 hours, from February to early April, working in the pediatric hematology and oncology part of the hospital. Waugh was partnered with a mentor, but also worked with patients by herself, drawing labs, giving medications and talking to the patients.

"The best part was being around those patients, because they have a spirit," Waugh said. "I told them I used to be there. It was easier with the older kids. I said, 'hey, I've been a patient on this floor.' There's a gleam in their eyes saying, 'they've made it, maybe I can, too.'"

Waugh said her experience helping other patients at Brenner's brought her closure, and taught her things, as well.

"These kids need someone to be real with them," she said. "you don't have to talk about cancer with them, just talk about anything."

Waugh has applied to several hospitals and is still waiting to hear if one will hire her. Her dream job is at Baptist Medical Center, where she first saw nurses in action every day, and where she received her treatment. Although she wants to get her foot in the door at a hospital, she would eventually like to work in a fast-paced environment like critical care or the emergency room, and possibly the oncology unit one day.

As for Waugh, she will officially be cancer-free in March. At graduation Friday, she was selected to be one of the speakers. Waugh plans to share her experience with cancer, her time with others at Brenner's and relate it to the students at LRU.

Copyright 2012 - Hickory Daily Record, N.C.