Donations for Diane, a nurse and cancer warrior

When Diane Perrault was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer six years ago at age 48, she was determined to fight with everything she had once she recovered from surgery. And fight she did. Originally given a prognosis of three years to live, Diane has survived to turn fifty years old; to see her only child Chad get married; and to continue to provide upbeat, positive, patient-centered care as a nurse at New England Rehab Hospital in Portland, Maine.

Sadly, Diane recently discovered that not only has her cancer returned, it has metastasized and she has been given six to twelve months to live. She and her medical team have exhausted every possible treatment and there are no other options at this point aside from palliative care. While we are all so very sad, angry, and in shock, Diane continues to come to work to spread cheer and comfort to her patients as she has done for the past 35 years.

As Diane has used all of her available PTO to fight cancer over the past six years, she has none left as her battle winds down. The high hopes, the positive thinking, the surgery, the chemo, the prayers, the love from her husband, son, and both her home family and her work family can’t give her more time to live. But what we can do is take some of the financial stress off of Diane and her husband Tracy and allow her to spend the most time off that she can to be with her loved ones and maybe even cross some things off her bucket list.

Diane’s coworkers and especially her patients know that she will absolutely work until she can’t anymore. Once that time comes we would love for Diane to be able to relax and enjoy life as much as she can. Any donation, no matter how big or small, will mean so much not only to Diane, Tracy, and Chad, it will mean a lot to the nursing and medical team at New England Rehab Hospital as we prepare for an unwilling goodbye to one of the best nurses we’ve ever known. Thank you.