A Touch, a Fragrance, Sadness First, Then a Smile: A Story Offering Hope

It was springtime once again…

On my way to the evening shift, my eyes lingered on a florist with hyacinths filling the space outside. I stopped, enchanted by their fragrance. Then I thought of our patient with ovarian cancer in the oncology ward. The previous day, during my daytime shift, this lovely woman’s blood pressure had fallen and she had become very unwell. She cried out, “I cannot die, I have children, please save me.” The experience deeply affected our team. We stayed beside her with our physician until her blood pressure returned to normal.

Moved by a feeling I could not explain, I bought a hyacinth for her, hoping it might make her smile a little. Before my shift even began, as soon as I put on my uniform, I rushed excitedly to her bedside. “I bought this for you,” I said, holding out the hyacinth. Suddenly, she began to cry…

I could not understand: “Why was she crying?”

I paused and waited for her to calm down. Although she looked a little better, she told me through tears: “My father was a florist. I helped him when I was a little girl, and I loved doing it… Beautiful scents, colorful flowers... But the loveliest were the hyacinths. They are my favorite flower,” she said, continuing to cry quietly.

I had goosebumps and tears filled my eyes. In trying to touch a life, I had suddenly found myself within it.

We could not leave the living flower in her room because it might pose a risk to her health. Together, we placed it by her window. After a while, tears gave way to a smile—the most beautiful part of a busy shift!

Oncology Nurse Mevlüde Demir