Stay tuned for our 2026 Ambassador!

 

Past Day of Hope Ambassadors

Anna Sosnowski - 2025 Ambassador

Day of Hope 2025 Ambassador Anna Sosnowski has cared for others as a dedicated nurse for 13 years, three of which have been at Arroyo Grande Community Hospital. Nursing runs deep in her family, and Anna embraced her calling wholeheartedly. But in 2024, her role shifted dramatically—from caregiver to patient—after discovering a lump while breastfeeding her 4-month-old.

With three young children and a busy schedule, Anna initially delayed medical care. But after her sister encouraged her to get checked, a biopsy revealed stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma. Further tests showed the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. 

She began chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before surgery—but during her second infusion, Anna went into anaphylactic shock. Thanks to the quick actions of the Mission Hope Cancer Center nurses, she recovered and continued her treatment, eventually undergoing a double mastectomy and radiation.

Throughout her journey, Anna leaned on the support of her family—especially her mother, Alice, a breast cancer survivor herself. Together, they navigated their diagnoses with courage and grace. Her parents stepped up to help with childcare and logistics, ensuring stability for Anna’s children and peace of mind for Anna.

But not every patient has a strong support system—and that’s where Mission Hope Cancer Center shines. The Center provides essential services like transportation, mental health care, and recovery programs—often at little to no cost. Anna says, “You don’t plan financially for a cancer diagnosis. Mission Hope takes so much off people’s plates during the hardest time of their lives.”


Meghan Wells - 2024 Ambassador

A lot has changed since Day of Hope Ambassador Meghan Wells was diagnosed with breast cancer on April Fool’s Day 2020. She was 27 years old.

Back then, Meghan went from treating people as an Emergency Room nurse at Marian Regional Medical Center to receiving treatment at Mission Hope Cancer Center in Arroyo Grande. 

The excellent care she received there inspired her to become an infusion RN at Mission Hope, first in Santa Maria and then permanently in Arroyo Grande.

And, earlier this year, Meghan gave birth to her first child, Lana—almost four years to the date after her diagnosis. 

“It’s been very surreal, it’s been incredible, honestly. I feel very blessed,” she said. “I was diagnosed when we were first talking about starting a family. But then I found the lump, which was very unexpected and set us on a completely different course. We had to put everything on hold for a while.”

Because Meghan was diagnosed at such a young age, the question of whether she’d be able to have children was always in the back of her mind.

“Knowing that [getting pregnant] might be a problem was very hard,” she recalled. “It weighs on you a lot.”

But she said everyone at Mission Hope was really good about talking to her and her husband about how treatment would impact fertility and gave them options so having a family could still be a possibility.

“We were told we wouldn’t be able to start trying to get pregnant until five years after treatment,” she said. “But after three years, everything looked good, so my oncologist said you can start now.”

Because of my medications, it was kind of like I was put into early menopause. I had to be taken out of it to get pregnant. So I paused my medications and got pregnant right away,” she said. “Bodies are truly amazing and will do what they need to do.”

The entire Mission Hope Arroyo Grande staff has been with Meghan every step of the way, including Amy Settle, who treated her as a nurse and now serves as her manager at the Infusion Center. 

Amy also nominated Meghan to be Arroyo Grande’s first Day of Hope Ambassador, a title Meghan is happy to share with her daughter.

“I do really think that she’s kind of Mission Hope’s baby,” she said. “Everyone has been super supportive and excited to have her here. They even told me, ‘Don’t forget, she’s our baby, too! We helped to get her here.’”

“It’s been really full-circle to get to have a baby,” she added. “It brings hope to people and that’s what we want our patients to feel, that there’s hope on the other side of cancer. Those are the kinds of stories that would always help me get through treatment. It shows you that things will get better and you’ll get to have the life you dreamed of or didn’t think was possible.”