Ice Cream for Breakfast Might Be the Best Medicine

Radiation Oncology Manager Shannon Reynolds grew up with strong women. She spent a lot of her childhood in the company of her grandmothers, and she is clever enough to have listened to them. They have inspired her outlook on life and her career.

When her great aunt was being treated for gynecological cancer, for example, she gave Shannon advice the then-high school student took to heart. Her aunt received daily radiation therapy treatments. The experience led her to suggest Shannon would do well in the field. Shannon, exploring career options, visited a radiation therapy office.

“As soon as I saw the facility, as soon as I saw the patients, as soon as I saw the environment, that's where my heart told me I needed to be,” she said today.

Having found her career, Shannon did not look back. In fact, she went on to study and become certified in radiation therapy, physics technology, brachytherapy procedures, and medical dosimetry. Today, as a manager, she has a solid understanding of many of the challenges those on her team are facing and she continues to build her skills. With support from a staff development fund created by retired GBMC Radiation Oncologist Dr. Albert Blumberg, Shannon is pursuing a master’s degree in Health Administration.

Ask her about her day-to-day work in the Sheila K. Riggs Radiation Oncology Center and Shannon uses words like “honor” and “privilege” as she talks about her patients and colleagues. When she arrived at GBMC in 2013, she had almost 20 years' experience in the field. But at GBMC, she found something she didn’t realize she’d been missing: GBMC’s vision of treating every patient, every time, as if they were our own loved ones.

“We do all the big-time university treatments but in a homey atmosphere. Patients love us and they love it here,” she said. “I’m proud to say we really push our technology to the furthest limits. We’re always looking to do the best for our patients.

“It’s a real partnership between the hospital and the physicians and everyone who works here, because we’re really a team that has one common cause: It’s for the good of the patients."

Within Shannon’s dedication to patients is the deep understanding that she benefits from her work – and not just as a career choice. That sunny disposition is more than something she learned from her mother, grandmothers, and great aunt.

“Being privileged to work with oncology patients has taught me that it’s a good thing to have ice cream for breakfast," she said. "Life is short. I think you need to enjoy every day.”

It’s a lesson she takes home with her. Shannon and her husband have three adult children. Their 24-year-old daughter lives in Colorado. Their twin 20-year-old sons are closer to home. The family camps together and yes: “We are a family that eats ice cream for breakfast.”