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Vanessa was born at 28 weeks. She spent 154 days in the NICU after being
diagnosed with a significant brain bleed. While she developed into a bright,
fully functioning toddler, her body struggled to keep up.
“I didn’t take my first steps until I was two and a half,”
Vanessa said.
That delay led to a referral to Shriners Children’s in 1998
when she was 2. There, she was diagnosed with spastic diplegic cerebral
palsy affecting her lower extremities.
Despite the difficulties, Vanessa holds some of her best
childhood memories from Shriners Children’s – swimming in the therapy pool,
playing basketball with a visiting Sacramento Kings player and the overwhelming
sense of support.
“Shriners Children’s made me feel happy even when I felt
sorry for myself,” she said. “It is one of a kind, and it totally made me the
nurse I am today.”
That nursing path was intentional. Though she once dreamed
of being a surgeon, she realized nurses are the backbone of the hospital,
providing the crucial face-to-face support for families. She and her now-wife
moved to Arizona for nursing school, navigating their education through the
COVID-19 pandemic, where Vanessa gained frontline experience as a certified
nursing assistant in a COVID unit.
Today, she has achieved her dream job: working as a NICU
nurse at a top-level hospital in the Pacific Northwest, caring for the most
premature infants.
“I chose the NICU because prematurity is a top risk factor
for developing a disability like CP,” Vanessa said. “Having been a NICU baby
myself, and hearing what my mom went through as a single parent, I wanted to
provide the same support and compassion for my patients that UC Davis and
Shriners gave us.”
For her, the work is deeply personal and preventative.
“Reading my own old medical records, I see how far NICU
medicine has come. Now, we’re on the frontline protecting these preemie babies.
It’s a privilege and an honor.”
Read more about Vanessa at:
