It’s hard to believe that it’s already the holiday season; Hurricane Sandy made November fly by. Normally around this time, I would compile a list of presents that I would like, and then I would “accidentally” email the list to my mom, hoping she’d get the hint. This year, though, I’m not making a list. During the summer, I had an internship at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to shadow a doctor for the day. Witnessing the experiences of those patients gave me a reality check on the value of life.

As soon as I arrived at the hospital that morning, I was greeted by Dr. David Chung, an Associate Attending in the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service. The first thing that I noticed about him was his exhaustion. He had dark shadows under his eyes that only could have come from fatigue. However, those shadows did not conceal the glimmer of hope in his eyes when he explained to me what his average day entails. First, he and the other nurse practitioners would have a meeting to review each patient they were going to see that day. Then, they would make patient rounds, where they would visit these patients to examine their daily progress.

All of the patients in this wing received bone marrow transplants (BMT) as a result of various blood cancers. Unfortunately, the body sometimes rejects these BMTs, and starts to attack itself. Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is an incredibly dangerous disease that patients get when the body rejects BMTs; the disease destroys the patient’s immune system.

Before visiting each patient, we had to put on a sterile gown, face mask, and gloves (after using hand sanitizer), and they had to be changed for every single room. At this point, even a common cold could kill a patient with GVHD. As I was fumbling to put my gown on quickly enough to keep up with the fast-paced doctors (they had to do this for about fifteen more rooms before lunch), I was trying to anticipate what I was going to see.

We opened the door to find a woman who was fast asleep. I had a lump in my throat. She looked like my grandmother who passed away from ovarian cancer. The doctor gently woke her up, and it was clear by the way her eyes lit up that it made her day to see him. When asked how she was doing that day, she responded, “Well, I have considerable pain in my back. I see food but I never feel hungry enough to eat it. Everything hurts. But, I can finally sit up today, so I’d say it’s a good day.”

“That’s great!” replied Dr. Chung, “We’re taking it one day at a time; just live for tomorrow.” I realized that what Dr. Chung was saying was not some cliché expression. This woman needed to hear his words of encouragement, because otherwise she would lose all faith. Through Dr. Chung’s hope and determination to help his patients, they found the strength to get better.

I saw many more patients similar to this woman, and after lunch, I prepared to go home. I quickly thanked Dr. Chung and left the hospital as soon as I could so no one would see me become emotional. It wasn’t even the pain that the patients were going through that made me upset. I was just so moved by the fact that not even a single patient showed any sign of self-pity. The patients realized that each day gave them another chance to get better, which was enough for them to continue to fight. Even their family members remained strong despite all the heartache they felt.

This whole experience made me realize how lucky we all are to have even the simplest abilities. I can eat when I’m hungry; when I’m lying down, I can reach across to move a pillow on my bed. I will never forget how happy that woman was just to say she could finally sit up.

During the holiday season, people are constantly trying to outdo each other by giving the better gift. But, in this entire gift-giving chaos, people forget the essence of the holiday spirit–companionship and wellness. If we constantly focus on what is lacking in our lives and try to find what is missing, we will never be satisfied. However, if we are more thankful for what we have, we will end up finding more reasons to be happy.

If people in the most hopeless situations can find a reason to smile, what is stopping the rest of us?