Cancer Survivor Guides Patients as Nurse Navigator

When Tana Toll heard the words "you have cancer," she felt like her entire life had been erased in an instant.

The diagnosis was heavy and overwhelming. She grieved the loss of her old life while trying to imagine what her future would look like.

But Toll made a choice that day to use her voice, ask questions, and advocate for herself. Now she's making that same transformation possible for others as an oncology nurse navigator at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in California.

Nurse navigators serve as a point of contact for cancer patients from diagnosis through treatment. They remove barriers, provide resources and education, and help patients understand they have choices and control over their care.

For Toll, the role is deeply personal. She knows firsthand how confusing and frightening a cancer diagnosis can feel.

"I had to keep faith within myself and really give myself the grace to grieve," Toll explained during a World Cancer Day interview. But she also learned something powerful: cancer treatment today isn't what it was five years ago.

Treatments are now targeted and specialized, not one-size-fits-all. Understanding that patients have options makes all the difference.

Toll's biggest message to newly diagnosed patients is simple but life-changing: listen to your body and speak up. You are your best advocate.

Sunny's Take

What makes Toll's story so moving isn't just that she survived cancer. It's that she transformed her pain into purpose, using her hardest experience to light the path for others walking through the same darkness.

Many cancer patients don't know nurse navigators exist or that they can request one. Toll encourages anyone facing a diagnosis to ask their medical team about this resource.

These specialized nurses help answer questions, coordinate appointments, and most importantly, remind patients they don't have to face cancer alone. Sometimes the smallest act of guidance can restore hope when everything feels uncertain.

Toll even brings extra comfort to her patients through Miso, a therapy dog from the hospital's hospice program. The adorable pup helps patients laugh and find moments of joy during difficult days.

On World Cancer Day, established in 2000 to raise awareness about prevention, detection and treatment, Toll's work reminds us that healing involves more than medicine. It requires compassion, connection, and someone willing to say: I've been there, and I'll help you through this.

Her journey from patient to navigator proves that sometimes our greatest struggles prepare us for our most meaningful work.