The Nest

Bob, a firefighter and EMT didn’t realize he had breast cancer until he was in stage 3. He didn’t want to admit anything was wrong. “It’s that bravado, ego. We don’t go, ‘Hey, my boob hurts.’ You don’t say anything about your body because it just feels like whining.” He says he waited too long to have the pain in his right breast checked out. “I knew six months ago I had a problem. My nipple actually started to dimple.” After that he felt a lump in his chest. Luckily his wife, who is a nurse, insisted he get checked...

  You're a firefighter and let's face it, you're a little different from the rest. As the years go by, and the experiences pile up, parts of “the job” begin to define who you are. It doesn’t happen all at once, and most of the time you can't even notice it. Your kids, not knowing the pre-firefighter you, simply accept you the way you are. Ask a kid how he knows his dad is a firefighter and these are some of the things you might hear: 1) He says weird things like “Stand by,” or “Roger that,” instead of “Wait...

Coworkers, men and women, bullied and tormented a young paramedic during a difficult period of her life instead of training, mentoring and supporting her In the days after the body of firefighter-paramedic Nicole Mittendorff was found and allegations of bullying and harassment were made public, we received messages from women who have experienced bullying, harassment and sexual assault in their EMS agencies and fire departments. This article is from Sarah Mielke, creator of the Emotional Trauma Life Support program. The first time I really faced bullying was as a probie on a skilled, well-regarded part-time fire department. I had come from...

The dream of becoming firefighters was made real for two boys receiving cancer treatment in New York City on Tuesday. River Laurence, 4, and Trucker Dukes, 3, are both receiving treatment for cancer, neuroblastoma, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Trucker's dad, Josh, is also a firefighter in Hawaii. Trucker's family is here all the way from Hawaii. River's family is from Texas. His mom, Jocelyn, says the FDNY has made home feel all the more closer. While in treatment both boys had chance encounters with firefighters and the comradery only grew. Trucker's mom, Shauna, says she...

Sharee Page (left) and her sister, Annette Page, at Sharee's home in Farmington, Utah. Photo: (AP) Two Utah sisters grew up in the same bedroom, went to the same college, worked for almost a decade at the same company and have visited over 50 countries side by side. Now every three weeks, they sit together in matching chairs and chat as their bodies are pumped full of chemotherapy drugs.   Sharee Page, 34, and Annette Page, 36, were recently diagnosed with breast cancer within about two weeks of each other, a coincidence that doctors say is extremely rare. But that...