BARRY WILLIAMS /Special

The husband of a former patient recently visited Joan Giblin, a nurse practitioner at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. He had a photo to show her of the house he'd finally built.

"He and his wife had dreamed about building a house on that land," Giblin remembered. "She didn't make it, but that dream kept her going for a long time."

Patients and their families often call, e-mail or visit Giblin because of the difference she made during their treatments. In last January's issue of Redbook magazine, Giblin was featured in an article about helping turn a couple's fears into hope.

Patrick Kardian was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1998.

"Before chemo[therapy], you have to cover all the possibilities, so I asked the couple if they wanted to store Patrick's sperm for the future before his treatment began," Gilbin said.

They'd been focusing their energies on fighting the disease, but after her suggestion, they knew they wanted to preserve the possibility of having children. After the treatment, Kardian's disease recurred, requiring Giblin to research a more effective treatment.

"It became almost a personal mission for her to help us," Jennifer Kardian said. "She watched over us."

A stem plant transplant and radiation treatment proved successful, and, thanks to a healthy sperm and in vitro fertilization, the Kardians now have a 1-year-old daughter.

Giblin, MSN, APRN-BC, AOCN, has seen about six babies born to her patients in the last 10 years, and is grateful that new research and treatments are giving cancer patients a more promising future.

"People are more than their illnesses," Giblin said. "I'll ask my patients to tell me something about themselves. I need to know what's going on in their lives because it affects them."

Giblin admits that she doesn't remember everything; that would be almost impossible for someone who has treated about 30 patients a day for the last 10 years. "I may have no recollection of someone's name, but if the doctor reminds me that this is the guy who likes boats, the patient's face will come to mind," she said.

Giblin recently switched roles to advising and coordinating care for Winship patients newly diagnosed with head, neck and lung cancers. Initially, she talks to patients by phone, but when they come in, they usually ask to meet her.

"I bought a bunch of spiral notebooks and I hand them out to patients. I tell them they can journal in them or write down questions for the doctor or have the doctor write down answers," Giblin said. "Cancer patients can't always remember what to ask or what was said.

"It's the small things you do that make a big difference. When you define nursing, that's the part you can't read in a book."

Giblin became a nurse in 1970 and a nurse practitioner 20 years ago. She considered a job in oncology when she moved to Atlanta in 1992.

"Both my parents died of cancer: my father with lung and my mother with leukemia," she said. "I never thought I'd do this. I thought it would hit too close to home, but it's been the best job I've ever had.

"I use the experience with my parents a lot when I'm counseling patients. It brings you closer. I can say, 'I've been through this and my best advice is that each day is a gift.' "

Giblin has seen plenty of loss and has many sad conversations with patients, but she's never regretted her decision to become a nurse or to work with cancer patients. She knows that it matters.

"Nursing is hard work, but you always have a job and a lot of career choices, and every bit you give to patients comes back twice. It's a calling," she said.