Deborah Sorenson:  

Following high school I worked at a factory in San Juan Capistrano while waiting for nursing school. I had applied to the L.A. County School of Nursing and had been accepted. I was later wait listed because they had so many applicants and they prioritized L.A. County applicants and since I lived in Orange County I was not included. I was told that I would likely start sometime in the next 4 years! So, I worked for awhile and then decided I didn't want to wait. I applied and was accepted into the nursing program in Eastern Montana. I graduated from Nursing school and returned immediately to California. During my college years my parents had moved to Nevada City but I was interested in nursing in Southern Cal so I returned to Mission Viejo area and worked for about 3 years. In the meantime, my parents, brother and sister had moved to Reno, Nevada and I was spending a lot of time travelling to visit them so I quit my job in Mission Viejo and moved to Reno. I worked at a tertiary center there for 2 years and due to severe staffing shortages and poor human resource practices, I moved to Sacramento. I worked for the Mercy Healthcare System in Sacramento which included seven different hospitals in the area. I held various positions as staff nurse and then in Nursing Administration. I spent 15 years as the Administrative Nursing Supervisor. I enjoyed Sacramento as it is perfectly located for a lot of different pursuits. It is 90 miles from San Francisco and the bay area and 90 minutes from South Lake Tahoe. It was a couple of hours from ski resorts and 2.5 hours from the remainder of my family. I dated for awhile and then met my future husband. We had a volatile relationship that was off and on many times! Our relationship had initially created a chasm in my family as he was African American. Over time, my family came around and we talked about getting married. Time and issues intervened and we would not end up marrying until I was 39. We had been together for 13 years at that time. Shortly after marrying we had the "should we have children" discussion and frankly, I wasn't really interested. I had a large role in my siblings childhood and felt that not having children would suit me!! About a 6 months into our marriage my husband raised the question again, as he had always wanted children. He had a daughter from a previous relationship but hadn't been around much when she was raised. I had our daughter prematurely about 6 months later. She weighed 2 pounds and spent 5 weeks in the NICU. She was such a joy to me and I have wished ever since that I had started sooner and had more children! She was born in 1994 and in 2000 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I underwent 3 surgeries and high dose chemotherapy. During that time, I did not work and when I was ready to return to nursing, I decided that I would not return to Nursing Administration. I took a staff nurse position that did not require me to carry a pager, work extra hours or attend endless meetings. My daughter was 5 when I was diagnosed. I was panicked that I had this 5 year old, kindergarten child. I...Expand for more