RAPID CITY, S.D. — Dayna Bodensteiner has been in the cancer care industry for 27 years. She’s helped cancer patients create treatment plans and navigate the journey ahead.
Dayna says, “You get to know you patients, you see them daily, for up to eight or nine weeks, you know, 40 some treatments, 15-minute time slots, so it’s a fairly fast turn around, but you really get to know your patients, and I loved that part of the job actually.”
She now travels with the software company who makes the treatment therapy plans.
The idea for her book, A Cancer Treatment Journal, came to her in a dream.
She desired to help those patients sift through emotions of that life altering news and process the diagnosis itself.
Dayna adds, “Everyone reacts and handles it differently, so you kind of have to meet them where they are at.”
In the journal is space to organize thoughts and options, a place to help guide you through the process, and sprinkled throughout – inspirational stories of hope.
She gathered insight from cancer patients and had help from local artists and designers with the illustrations and layout.
Dayna not only drew upon her time in patient care, but also her own life experiences — eight years ago she lost her husband suddenly to a heart attack. That tragic experience influenced and changed her world, perhaps the way a cancer diagnosis can influence a person’s life. Dayna says journaling helped her in the grieving process.
The book launched last Sunday and is now in hopeful hands.
“We started writing and it has just kind of come together, and we are really excited and proud of where it is today…and that feels so surreal from it to be like a dream and then they have it, and the feedback thus far has been that they needed it and it’s good,” says Dayna.
A caregiver journal will also be in the works in the future.
You can pick up a copy locally at Staple & Spice and the Hospital Gift Shop.
Dayna is also a yoga teacher and says the practice helped her to heal and encourages people to find things that fill their soul.
Click here for more on A Cancer Treatment Journal and how to purchase it.
Someone who reviewed the book says, “This is a beautiful journal that has a holistic approach to the cancer journey. The journal provides space and organization for documenting medical treatment, fears, hopes, milestones, celebration, and includes the inspiring journeys and stories of survivors to motivate and encourage! The author has included many quotes to inspire and song suggestions to keep the fight going! The artwork and photography is gorgeous! This is a thoughtful and unique gift for anyone on a treatment journey!”
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