In Grateful Nation's Spotlight Series, well-known people from all walks of life discuss the idea of gratitude. What does it mean to them? What is its role in their lives? How have they been bettered by expressing their gratitude? Check back frequently to see who's contributing to the greater grateful good.
Reporter for WCVB Channel 5 in Boston
“Being grateful, for me, is simply waking up everyday—feeling good and feeling optimistic for another day to do something important with your life.”
For Kelley Tuthill, a wife, a mother of two young girls, and a reporter for WCVB Channel 5, being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 36 turned her world upside down. In December 2006, shortly after nursing her six-month-old baby, Tuthill found a lump in her breast. Within weeks, along with the daunting diagnosis of Stage III breast cancer, came the realization that she might not live to be a grandmother and that life was too precious to be taken for granted.
Tuthill credits the BIDMC staff with saving her life, from her obstetrician/gynecologist who ordered more tests despite no family history of breast cancer to her surgeon who, just minutes before surgery, took her hand and assured her that everything was going to be O.K. These doctors also made themselves available to Tuthill after hours and occasionally checked in with her outside of regularly scheduled hospital visits.
In what many consider to be an impersonal time in health care, where visits can feel more like business transactions, Tuthill’s experience is indicative of the type of personal care BIDMC offers its patients every day. Here, Tuthill and her family received great support and comfort, something she hopes to give back to others dealing with breast cancer.
Support the BreastCare Program at BIDMC (please be sure to select other in the gift designation field and write in BreastCare program)