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I was born in the Philippines with five siblings. My mother passed away when I was three years old, leaving my eldest sister to take care of us and play the role of mother.
Unfortunately, over the past ten years my sister’s health has deteriorated due to dementia and now the roles have reversed and I have become her carer. She is now 80 years old and needs 24/7 care, but with the help of my cousin from the Philippines, we manage to keep her at home with us and comfortable. I love her very much and manage to juggle my time between work as a nurse and a carer for her. If I had to give up my career to care for her, I would. For me, family is everything.
Outside of my work as a nurse and a carer, I have been married for a wonderful 29 years and I love travelling overseas.
I recall when I was in grade two that I had an ambition to work in the medical field. I wanted to either be a nurse or a doctor and I have always had an interest in looking after wounds. When I was younger, my older brother promised my father to help support me to become a doctor but unfortunately, he died, so I chose to pursue nursing instead.
I started my nursing career in the Philippines in 1976. As a young nurse, I remember feeling nervous and thinking ‘will I be able to cope’ with the nursing care.
I migrated to Australia in 1986 and commenced training at Box Hill Hospital in order to acquire a licence to practice nursing in Australia in 1987.
It was always my intention to work in oncology as there was no designated facility for cancer treatment where I lived in the Philippines. When the opportunity arose in 1988, I transferred to Peter Mac and began working on the Reparative Skin Surgery Unit. I worked in surgical oncology for a total of twenty years and eventually became a Clinical Nurse Specialist. In 2008, I moved down to Specialist Clinics and have remained there ever since!
I am proud to say I have worked for 34 years at Peter Mac. I am passionate about helping and give advice to patients for proper care of their wounds.
Even after all these years I still love my nursing career as a wound care nurse specialist. I put in my all with each and every one of my patients and their wound care, as I know they have so many other aspects of their cancer to deal with.
I have many memorable patients, I remember a young patient when he first came in for his wound care was very stressed and uncomfortable. By reviewing his wound and seeing the good progress from the wound management plan we had put in place, he was comfortable and thankful for the advice and care I gave.
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