Strength and Sacrifice, Shanna’s Story

DENISON, Texas (KXII) - News 12 is working with the Grayson Crisis Center to prevent violence by changing the way our community values women.

We’re highlighting one woman a month who redefines success, by achieving HER goals in HER way.

This month, the head of ICU at Texoma Medical Center, whose example of compassion proves that being kind is a strength and that sacrifice is a true mark of success.

You don’t have to tell Shanna Reynolds these times are ‘unprecedented’. She knows firsthand.

“There’s so much that people don’t know and there’s a lot that people don’t need to know,” said Reynolds.

She’s the head of ICU at Texoma Medical Center.

“In healthcare, there’s no such thing as a work-life balance. There’s, at best, a work-life blend,” said Reynolds.

She’s used to the strain of long shifts and working hard and so is her family but then COVID hit.

“Vacations, weekends, different things like that, it just hasn’t happened in the last year,” said Reynolds.

Shanna says social distancing was nothing compared to how emotionally distant she was from her family.

“You’re emotionally drained and I feel like they get the brunt of that,” she said.

But still she -- and every other nurse at TMC -- went into work and cared for people at their worst.

“You knew you were pouring your heart and soul into that patient for 12 hours at a time, know that they were going to die at the end,” she said.

Shanna says on her floor, nobody dies alone.

So when patients weren’t allowed visitors --

“We were their only support a lot of times,” said Reynolds.

The weight of constant loss and uncertainty took a toll on everyone.

So why do it?

“I think it’s just because I would want somebody to be there if it was me,” said Reynolds.

Shanna says letting go is the hardest part and she knows she’s not alone in that.

“If people think about strong women in their life, to let that person know that it’s okay to rest. It’s okay to have some time for yourself. Sometimes they just need to be told that,” she said.

But even in her weakest moments, she is kind.

“Being kind and being compassionate, doing the right thing, is a strength,” said Reynolds.

Shanna believes everyone who chooses kindness is on the right path.

“If they have those values and they want to take care of people and they have the compassion outside, then that’s success,” she said.

Because it comes back to you in the end.

“Is it worth it? Yeah. Even if it was just one, it was all worth it, to give somebody back their family member,” she said.

She says the greatest strength is the sacrifice it takes to keep going, even if no one is there to see.

“If they’re not around, it’s noticed. But when they’re there, what they do every day, it’s just kind of taken for granted,” she said.

To nominate someone you think has redefined success, or to learn more about this program and how it aims to prevent violence in our community follow this link to the Grayson Crisis Center’s HER Story page: https://www.graysoncrisiscenter.org/her-story

This publication was supported by the Cooperative Agreement Grant # 6 NUF2CE002508-02-02, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Texas Department of State Health Services or the Texas Office of the Attorney General.

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