At Memorial Hospital West, the oncology floor looks like any other hospital unit. But two of the nurses on that floor carry something extra with them to work every day: they've been on the other side of the bed.

Sandra and Rafael are oncology nurses at Memorial Hospital West. But years ago, they were both patients on that same floor, fighting for their lives against cancer. Today, they're cancer-free and caring for patients who remind them of themselves.

Rafael Prado: From Patient to Promise Kept

Rafael was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021. He went through chemotherapy and treatment at Memorial Hospital West, and the care he received left a mark on him that went far beyond his recovery. After finishing treatment, he made a decision that would shape the rest of his career. He enrolled in nursing school with one goal in mind: to return to Memorial Hospital West and work alongside the very team that had cared for him.

Years passed. But when Prado came back to apply for a nursing job, one of his former caregivers hadn't forgotten him.

"The sticky note was there, two years later. With my name and last name. She told me she was there waiting for me, and I applied and she hired me," Prado said.

That sticky note, kept by his floor supervisor for two years, is a small detail that says a lot about the bond formed between patients and their care teams at Memorial Hospital West. Today, Prado works as an oncology nurse, walking the same halls where he once fought for his own life.

Sandra Stephens: A New Calling After Cancer

Sandra was working as a trauma nurse when she received her cancer diagnosis in 2018. Her treatment included chemotherapy, radiation, and a stem cell transplant. It was a long road, but she came through it cancer-free.

Like Prado, her time as a patient changed the direction of her nursing career.

Sandra made the switch from trauma nursing to oncology nursing, choosing to spend her days supporting patients through the same kind of fight she once faced herself.

Sandra and Rafael's journeys are more than heartwarming moments. They show that the relationships between patients and their care teams can run deep enough to change the course of a life.

For patients going through cancer treatment, having a nurse who has personally faced the same diagnosis, the same chemotherapy sessions, and the same uncertainty can offer a unique kind of comfort. Sandra and Rafael don't just understand cancer from a textbook. They understand it from the hospital bed.