Sydney Reep’s Journey of Resilience, Healing, and Becoming the Nurse They Needed
At just 13 years old, Sydney Reep walked into a hospital room to visit their dad after his stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis. That single experience launched a decade and a half of navigating cancer, caregiving, and eventually finding their calling in nursing.
Growing up in North Idaho, Sydney’s junior high and high school years were defined by infection control, hospital visits, and helping raise their three younger siblings while their dad battled cancer. Sydney’s grandfather was also fighting leukemia. The hospital became a second home.
Then, at age 21, Sydney’s world shattered again.
They had just started classes for early childhood development when their infant daughter, Harper, became feverish and lethargic. At their grandmother’s urging, Sydney took her to the pediatric clinic. Within hours, they were rushed across the street to the ER at Kootenai Health—the same hospital where Sydney now works as a CNA.
“The doctor came in and told me my daughter had cancer,” said Sydney. “She had acute lymphoblastic leukemia with 85% blasts and an MLL rearrangement. Her chances of survival were about 40%.”
What followed was an unrelenting battle: an ambulance ride from Coeur d’Alene to Spokane; eight months at the Ronald McDonald House; multiple rounds of chemotherapy that failed to bring remission; a clinical trial; CAR T-cell therapy at Seattle Children’s that finally achieved remission in just 10 days; and a stem cell transplant. Then came devastating complications: severe graft-versus-host disease that caused Harper to pass pieces of her intestines; sepsis; ICU stays; and adenovirus that nearly took her life. At one point, Harper was so weak she couldn’t walk.
Through it all, Sydney became an expert home caregiver, managing central lines, NG tubes, TPN, lipids, IV antibiotics, and high-dose steroids. Sydney and Harper lived with family, relying on food stamps and social security while attending five medical appointments a week during the height of COVID.
A nurse friend who visited during those early terrifying days looked at Sydney and said, “You’re going to be a nurse.”
“My first thought was, ‘I never want to set foot in a hospital again after this,’” said Sydney. But the words stuck.
After 5 1/2 years of treatment, Harper finally rang the bell in May 2022. She was 10 months old at diagnosis and 5 1/2 years old when treatment ended.
With their daughter stable, Sydney began taking one class at a time. A friend paid for her CNA program and babysat Harper so they could attend. Sydney worked in hospice, then nights as a CNA at Kootenai Health, while finishing their associate degree in social work. In 2023, Sydney was accepted into Nightingale College’s nursing program.
The flexibility of Nightingale was a perfect fit.
“I could not go to a brick-and-mortar school because Harper still has medical stuff to this day,” said Sydney. “Nightingale let me stay home and be with her.”
Sydney balanced night shifts (discovering that “old people don’t sleep—they sundown”), parenting, and demanding coursework. One instructor stood out: Professor Dionne DeMille.
“She helped me organize my life and was just very kind and encouraging,” said Sydney.
Exactly 9 years after Harper’s diagnosis, Sydney will walk across the stage at the Nightingale College graduation ceremony. Shortly after, Sydney begins their new role as a float nurse at Kootenai Health, with long-term goals in pediatrics and, eventually, clinical trial research in pediatric oncology.
Sydney’s lived experience has profoundly shaped the nurse they want to become.
“It’s shown me the kind of nurse I want to be,” said Sydney. “The kind who brings extra snacks to the moms. The nurse that comes in at midnight because your child puked on your last shirt and you need scrubs and a shower. It’s definitely broadened my capacity for empathy and compassion.”
Sydney also turned their pain into art. During treatment, they created comics and illustrations under the Instagram handle @Marvelous_Myrna to cope. They later transformed many of those pieces into a published coloring book that tells their family’s story. bit.ly/4a7Df71
Advice for Other Aspiring Nurses
To nursing students who may be nontraditional ones facing big life challenges, Sydney offers hard-earned wisdom:
“It’s okay to fail. You’ve already done hard things. Trust the process, one day at a time. And remember the Brené Brown quote I lived by: ‘Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up.’”
Nursing school, they note, was not the hardest thing they’ve ever done. That perspective carried Sydney through.
Today, Sydney is a proud parent to 9-year-old Harper and their almost 13-year-old stepdaughter. Sydney will get married next month to a supportive partner who shows up calmly for the medical chaos. Sydney’s best friend from the oncology unit—a young mom who lost her son to brain cancer—will stand beside them as maid of honor.
Sydney Reep’s journey proves that our most painful chapters can become the foundation for our greatest purpose. From teenage caregiver to fierce advocate to soon-to-be registered nurse—Sydney turned survival into service.
To every student wondering if they can do this: keep showing up. Your experiences are not obstacles. They are your greatest qualifications.
