“I’m in blue again!”
Maggie Peters, RN, was indeed in the comfort of blue scrubs, walking the halls of 5 north recently. It was her first day back as a nurse at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital after a battle with cancer took her away for several months.
“You have no idea how everyone from nurses to techs to transporters … they all give me a hug,” says Peters. “It’s just so heartwarming they wanted me to come back.”
Her story is a unique one. A bump on her foot she initially thought nothing of continued to grow for several years. As a staff nurse on her feet all day, the bump became problematic.
A visit to her physician soon led her to David Greenberg, MD, a SLUCare orthopaedic surgeon at Saint Louis University Hospital, who made a surprising cancer diagnosis.
Unfortunately, this was not easily treatable. Amputation was necessary.
“This wasn’t something where they can cut off the foot, because if I wanted to continue walking a lot it was easier for my rehabilitation to cut off the whole leg” says Peters.
Her residual limb is at the knee and she now wears a prosthetic leg.
After only a few months of physical therapy using the new leg, it is remarkable how well she walks.
“I would not have had the outcome I had without Dr. Greenberg,” says Peters. “When he told me I was cancer free … how can I not love this man?”
Peters is easing back into her job slowly. Short shifts a few days a week she plans to expand to a regular work week over a period of weeks.
“It is wonderful to have Maggie back on 5N,” says Emily Hazelton, RN, assistant nursing director at SLU Hospital. “She is truly someone who always sees the glass as half full and her positive attitude and enthusiasm for life make her a role model for all of us.”
“Most of my career I spent at a small community hospital in Centralia,” says Peters, who has been with SLU Hospital since 2007. “The critical stuff we sent here. The level of care we provide is another level and I can say I experienced that.”
While Peters says she is flattered by the well wishes from colleagues upon her return, it is not something she is seeking out.
“I don’t want any attention,” says Peters. “It’s not about me, it’s about the patients.”
We’re proud to have you back, Maggie.
