I honored her today.
I have enacted a change that, while it will never bring her back, might help to ensure that no one I work with will have to go through what I have been through.
I discovered yesterday through a long series of events that I have unwittingly been exposed to numerous antineoplastic agents and chemotherapy drugs throughout my two years in my current position. The major side effects of these types of drugs are fetal abnormalities and infertility and increased rates of both have been reported in nurses and pharmacists who handle these drugs.
I used to rest in the fact that nothing I did or could have done changed my daughter's chromosomes. Now I know that is not the case. Now I will forever have to wonder.
I never knew that touching the outside of the sealed vial or box could expose me to harmful chemicals. However, now that I know, I am changing the way our pharmacy receives these types of drugs so that no one else will be exposed.
It's all because of her.
If she hadn't been, I would never have known.
If she hadn't been, this policy wouldn't have been changed.
If she hadn't been, I wouldn't have been changed.
