"When people ask me how I've done it, I tell them you have to love yourself before you can love other people. And you have to find what's right for you, because what works for others may not be right for you. And lastly, I think accepting that it's a lifestyle change and not a diet is really important. I couldn't have done it without understanding that."

- George, certified surgical technologist at St. Charles Bend, who decided last October that 2021 was going to be a year of change. Since then, he has lost about 120 pounds by making changes to his diet, walking up to 10 miles daily (including step challenges and lots of walking for his job) and using accountability tools available through the health system's Engage for Health (now Personify Health) wellness program.

"You have to take care of the critical things and you can’t let every little thing get to you. You’ve got to figure out, 'OK, this is what’s vital. This is what I need to focus on.' Like a lot of people in Bend, I mountain bike, I do a lot of running, I climb. Doing those activities with the family definitely helps relieve some of the stress. And I have an 8-year-old daughter who's been playing softball. I never thought I would’ve enjoyed watching 8-year-old softball but it’s just been awesome to watch these kids learn how to play the game and flourish throughout the year. It's things like that that help."

- Mike, a registered nurse in the Bend Emergency Department, on how he has tried to cope with the "grind" of the past year

"I was fortunate enough to be employed by St. Charles the entire time during the pandemic and I’m in a good position financially. So when I got my stimulus check, I could’ve saved it if I’d wanted to. But the intent of that money was to help people, so I thought maybe there’s a way I can reallocate it in a way that helps sick kids and gives back to St. Charles at the same time."

- Ethan, a diet aide and cashier in food services at St. Charles Prineville, who recently purchased three Nintendo Switch game consoles and donated them to the health system's Pediatrics unit in Bend. He also bought prepaid gift cards so caregivers on the unit can buy appropriate games for patients, and he's working on doing something similar in the Prineville community.

#humansofstcharles

"I talked to my mom like two weeks before that and said, 'When this is done, I think I’m going to look for a different position.' Because I didn’t like just being on the computer all the time. I thought I’d be actually training people and getting to interact with the doctors and see them learning and appreciating the time and effort that went into making sure this education made an impact on them and on patient outcomes, and I wasn’t getting that. But in April, we did two big (partially in-person) trainings and they really changed my perspective and opened up a lot of opportunities for things that I’m excited to do in the future."

- Ellie, simulation and procedural skills specialist and self-proclaimed “people person” on how working remotely during the pandemic affected her. Recently, she organized and oversaw two major physician trainings, which helped her rediscover her passion for her role at St. Charles.

"Imagine you have a big cotton ball and you put a Skittle in the middle of it, and that Skittle is the cancer. You can take a picture of the cotton ball and you won’t see the Skittle. But if you cut the cotton ball into thin slices, you’re going to find that cancer."

- Stefanie, mammography technologist at St. Charles Madras, illustrating the difference between a 2D mammogram and a 3D mammogram, which provides a much clearer look at the breast and gives providers a chance to catch cancer earlier. Madras recently installed a new 3D mammography machine, bringing industry-standard breast cancer screening to Jefferson County. Read more about it here: https://www.stcharleshealthcare.org/news/3d-mammography-available-jeffe…

"It’s my job to take care of every floor you see in here. If we get a report of a broken tile or something popping up, I record it and make sure it gets taken care of immediately. Because in a hospital, it’s more than just floor maintenance. It gives people peace of mind if they come in and they look down the hallway and it’s shiny and safe and in good condition. It makes them feel like they’re somewhere that will take good care of them."

- Ojamar, a floor care attendant with Environmental Services in Bend and an avid musician who can sometimes be found playing his guitar in the waiting area of the Bend hospital during his breaks

"I’m not necessarily teaching ICU skills. I’m just teaching them the St. Charles way of caring for patients. From our policies and our procedures to who to call and how to call them to where things are. It’s kind of nice – it becomes like a team nursing sort of experience, and sometimes I’ve even learned some stuff from those that I’ve precepted. Which is neat. We all have different backgrounds, so we all have different knowledge and skills. It's a nice collaboration."

- Renee, a registered nurse in the Bend ICU, on what she likes about precepting ICU nurses who are new to St. Charles

"My life has always been an active one. I was born and raised on a farm in Iowa and have participated in sports regularly and, in my later life, I have walked at least two miles most days. Since age 43, I have been an avid downhill skier. In 2011, I moved to Bend, Oregon where there is, in the city limits, a butte (Pilot Butte) that is 500 feet high. I saw this as a challenge and was soon climbing the butte every day. It is one mile up and one mile back down. That is darn good exercise!

It was also 2011 that I heard the shocking news, “you have lung cancer, stage four.” I was 92 years old. The diagnosis was later changed to stage three, however, lymph nodes along my sternum were involved and surgery was no longer an option.

My treatment consisted of seven weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. The radiation was administered five days a week for the seven weeks; each visit I was zapped five times from different angles. During the seven weeks of treatment, I climbed the ol’ butte 14 times; I climbed to the top seven times; I could make it just halfway another seven times. The main side effects of the treatment for me was fatigue. I did my best to ignore this; Looking back, I think my positive attitude certainly helped me in my treatment.

The nine years since the completion of treatment, have been the best years of my life. There is something about having to go through the diagnosis and treatment of cancer that awakens a desire to make each day the best day of your life. Today and every day I say life is good and the best is yet to be. In the time since treatment, I have accomplished things that I never thought of doing in the past. In the past nine years since treatment, I have had the privilege of visiting Europe four times for at least a month each time. My desire to know Paris better has been fulfilled having lived on the left bank for an extended period. During these visits, I have spent more than five weeks in Italy. I also found time to paint an eight foot by seven foot mural on our dining room wall.

During my long, boring sessions of chemotherapy, I wrote a book; the story of my life. The book is titled, “How I Chose to Live My Life,” is 256 pages and includes more than 100 illustrations. I had a printer produce enough copies so that my grandchildren and great grandchildren could each have a copy.

My lifelong hobby has been wood carving. Somehow it felt necessary to do something fairly large. So, I carved a life-size carousel horse. I later carved another one that was made part of the “Art in Public Places” here in Bend. It hangs today at the entrance of the downtown parking structure.

Also since completing my treatment, I have had a season pass for our local ski mountain, Mount Bachelor. One year, I skied 44 days.

These accomplishments made me realize that life is not over when you are diagnosed with serious cancers. Rather, it is a time to take a new view of life and to make the most of it. My life is not over.

This year, I celebrated my 101st birthday by piloting a glider down from 5,000 feet (I have a pilot’s license)."

- Art Vinall, Bend resident, cancer survivor and World War II veteran

”Being in the mountains, that's a huge, huge part of me. It speaks to the balance in my life, having one foot in work and the other foot solidly planted in the things that fill my existence. I go out (almost every day) and drain myself physically, which fills me up emotionally and gets me excited to help others. It’s a major part of my own mental health. Without it I’m OK, but I’m not my best self without that connection to the outdoors and being disconnected from my phone and my email and the buzzing of the world around me."

- Adam, supervisor of clinic operations for Outpatient Behavioral Health, who loves just about any form of outdoor recreation, especially backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering

"I texted my mom at the end of the first week: 'Mom, college is finally paying off!' I'm seeing so many interesting things and applying all these different models that I learned in college. It's pretty amazing, after thousands of hours of study, to now be seeing it in real life. Even sitting in on huddles and listening to the caregivers talk about their work is fascinating to me. It's been really eye-opening, and a total blast."

- Annika, an intern who is spending the summer at St. Charles working on a program to determine what barriers keep women from seeking breast cancer screening