A Nurse Diagnosed With Cancer Wears Her Own Designer Hospital Gown

As a nurse, Anna knew that designing stylish hospital gowns could have a huge impact on anyone having to spend time in the hospital, but she had no idea that she would be one of the people benefitting from the gowns.

My sister, Selena, and I (Anna) are both nurses. I work in an Emergency Department and Selena works in an adult ICU. We have over 15 years of nursing experience between the two of us and THE biggest complaint of our patients are the old, often torn, generic hospital gowns that leave patients feeling vulnerable. We realized we had an opportunity to design a much better hospital gown that was stylish, dignified, comfortable, and most importantly, covered the "backside". Thus began our company, Annie & Isabel.

Our hospital gowns provide comfort to new mothers having babies but also to women having to spend time in the hospital for planned surgeries, acute illnesses, or cancer treatments. We have been amazed at the response we have gotten from women who have worn our gowns. We have been especially inspired by women, fighting tough medical diagnoses, who have written to us to tell us how comforting it was to have their own special hospital gown.

I personally didn't fully realize the impact our hospital gowns could have until I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer two years ago. I had to go through two surgeries to remove my thyroid and, for each surgery, I wore one of our Annie & Isabel hospital gowns. Instead of having nerves and fear take over my thoughts, I went into surgery with a smile and came out of surgery with a smile because I felt beautiful and comforted in my cheery hospital gown! I also felt that it gave me a bit of control back in a situation that felt so out of my control.

Selena and I both have a passion to help others which is why we became nurses. Our company helps us feed this passion so, while we sell designer hospital gowns, we find the greatest satisfaction in connecting with our customers and supporting them through their tough times. Our customers are the inspiration that keeps us going in our business and we write about these beautiful, inspiring women often on our blog.

A big thank you to "IHadCancer" for giving us the opportunity to share our company with all of you. We know many of you are fighting your own battles and we would love to offer a 15% discount on our gowns to any of you who will need to be spending time in the hospital. Please use code "IHADCANCER" in the discount box to receive this discount. This discount will be valid through the end of March. Our website is annieandisabel.com.

Testimonials

We thought we would share some testimonials of a few of the inspirational women who have worn our hospital gowns:

From Becky, who purchased a gown for her mother: "I can't tell you how happy this gift made my Mom. Mom has AML Leukemia and has to spend a lot of time in the hospital. She has been showing all the nurses her "new outfit."



From Jen, mother of 5 young children who is battling brain cancer who wore her gown going into her first surgery to remove her brain tumor: "I felt so blessed to have worn this gown! You are a wonderful company blessing many!"

From Maura, about her mother Christine who fought AML Leukemia: "Thanks for everything. Seeing her in your gown while in the ICU helped everyone see her as a person, not just a patient."



From Britney, who received a life saving stem cell transplant: "The gown made me feel special, since my life was in a tailspin. Wearing the gown gave me a choice when everything else was out of my control!"



From Katie, a 14-year-old who had open heart surgery: "The gowns made my days so much brighter! I felt "dressed" in the gown, which made me feel less like a patient and more like a person. I love my hospital gowns!"