Click here for a high resolution photograph of UTMB nursing student Ann-Marie Servos
For University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston School of Nursing student Ann-Marie Servos, this year’s commencement ceremony for the school’s 125th anniversary class will mark the end of a path that started in 2011 with the diagnosis of a type of leukemia that is often fatal.
“I already had a degree and a career in real estate finance, but decided to change my path in life and pursue a degree in nursing because I believe it was my nurses who saved my life throughout my treatment and transplant, and I wanted to give back the care I was given,” said Servos, who enrolled in UTMB’s accelerated nursing program.
Servos was diagnosed 58 days before her planned wedding. After being told her condition would more than likely be terminal unless a suitable donor for a bone marrow transplant was found, Servos and her husband Nicky moved up the wedding date and were married in the hospital chapel three days after her diagnosis.
Soon after, the couple was thrilled when they were notified that a non-family, 100 percent match had been located through the national bone marrow registry, Be the Match. While a bone morrow transplant was the only way to save Servos’ life, it came with many severe and life-changing side effects.
One of those was infertility, which led the couple to begin the adoption process. They were elated when two years later they learned they had been chosen to adopt expected twins; however, when the twins arrived two months early and required a stay in the NICU, Servos’ plans for graduation were put on hold and she had to take a leave of absence from school. Servos returned to school six months later as a part of the traditional nursing program, determined to finish her degree.
Although Servos still undergoes regular follow-ups, she knows she is blessed that the bone marrow transplant has been successful, allowing her to care for her new family and finish her nursing degree. Servos will happily join hundreds of other UTMB School of Nursing Students as they receive their diplomas April 24.
“This has not been an easy road; it has all been very humbling,” said Servos. “It was only through the support of the entire UTMB community and my family that we were able to get through this.”
The school’s commencement will be at 3 p.m. on April 24, at Moody Gardens Convention Center, 7 Hope Blvd. in Galveston.
UTMB’s School of Nursing was established in 1890 as the first nursing school in Texas and the oldest nursing school in the Southwest.
This year the school which is celebrating its 125th anniversary will recognize more than 500 graduates in the last year, including those who will complete degree requirements in August.
“With 125 years of educating nurses, UTMB School of Nursing is the most distinguished school in Texas,” said Dean Pamela G. Watson. “It has been and remains our goal to educate the best nurses for Texas, the nation and the world.”