11/11/2025
Congratulations to our September 2025 DAISY award winner, Elizabeth Hill, BSN, RN, OCN from the Upstate Cancer Center Hematology/Oncology!
Elizabeth was nominated by one of her patients, please take a minute to read her nomination:
"In September of 2022 a tumor in my abdomen, that I didn’t know I had, ruptured overnight which led to it freakishly growing. This landed me in the ICU at Upstate Medical University Hospital. The tumor, upon removal a week later, weighed seventeen pounds and measured forty-two centimeters. I spent 71 days in the hospital. I was diagnosed with adrenal cortical carcinoma and before my discharge more cancer was found in my lungs. This led to me being scheduled for four six-day cycles of chemotherapy on Unit 10E of the Upstate Medical University Hospital. On this unit I had the pleasure of meeting Liz. Liz always took excellent care of me and helped mitigate my fears of going through a very serious chemotherapy journey. I saw the dedication to her job every single day I was there and even when she wasn’t my nurse, she would always stop into my room to visit with me to see how I was doing. She showed great compassion and always went above and beyond to make sure that all of my needs were met. I also saw firsthand all the compassion and excellent care that she gave to the other patients on the unit every single day. I finished my final chemotherapy cycle in March of 2023 and the cycles were successful in removing all the cancer in my body. After this ordeal I was referred to the Upstate Cancer Center for monitoring, which included medical scans every three months. Shortly after, unbeknownst to me, Liz had transferred to the Cancer Center. During my follow ups I would often run into Liz, and she was always quick to greet me with a hug and inquire how I was doing. This continues to this day. Unfortunately, in November of 2023 my mother was diagnosed with stage four small cell lung cancer. She was referred to the Upstate Cancer Center and Liz was often my mother’s nurse. My father mostly took her to her appointments and was extremely grateful for the care that Liz gave to my mother. When I took her to her appointments, I personally saw Liz give my mother the same excellent care and compassion that she had given me. My mother was also extremely grateful and would often mention how much she enjoyed her times with Liz during her difficult time. Unfortunately, after a courageous battle, my mother passed on Christmas Eve of 2024 at home. Shortly after, Liz personally contacted my father and I to send her condolences. Since then, she has continued to personally contact us to inquire how we are doing. For everything that you did for myself and my mother, and I’m sure countless other cancer patients, I wanted to say, “thank you”, Elizabeth Hill"
Thank you Liz for your kind, compassionate and excellent patient caređź’—