Allie first became a part of our nursing team over a year ago when our son started chemo treatment. There have been so many times since meeting her that we have thought about nominating her for The DAISY Award. We have patiently waited till close to the end of our 5-year-old son's Neuroblastoma cancer treatment. We wanted to make sure we could give a long detailed accounting of just how incredibly awesome she is and why she is a DAISY Nurse. Allie goes above and beyond in her level of care, compassion, knowledge, and dedication than any other nurse we have ever encountered. And at this point in our journey that is a lot of nurses.
At the beginning of treatment our son was so incredibly shy around adults and would hide and become very quiet when they entered the room. Allie was so wonderful about taking the time to interact with him and make him feel comfortable in this new environment that he was forced into. It was nurses like Allie that eventually got him to become more outgoing and interactive with the hospital staff. Nowadays he will talk your ear off when you walk into the room! To give specific examples. I remember around a year ago when our 8-year-old daughter was visiting him at the hospital, Allie came to the playroom with her and our son when she had a free moment to sit on the floor with them and play. There have been so many other times like this since then. Just a couple of weeks ago, she found a few minutes to come by my son's room (even though she was not his assigned nurse that day) and play a couple of games with him. This happens almost every time we are inpatient. Sometimes it is really challenging as a parent to keep your child occupied without a device or television and it is such a relief when a nurse is able to brighten up your child's day by interacting with them for a few minutes. When he had his major abdominal surgery, Allie came by to see him and make him smile. She planned to do the same during his stem cell transplants but Coronavirus started right at that time. His whole face lights up when Allie comes into the room. He will literally drop the iPad he is watching - which is not easy to get him off of. This past summer when he was doing radiation, he kept asking me when he would get to see Nurse Allie again!
Especially at the beginning of cancer treatment, there are so many questions and concerns that you have as a parent. It was quickly apparent to us that Allie is very knowledgeable about cancer care. She was able to answer our questions with accurate information and confidence. One thing we learned over time is that not all nurses are equal in this regard. Some have a desire to really understand the complexities of the treatments, meds, and side effects. Not only does Allie have a desire to know and understand all of this, but she is also able to effectively and easily communicate it with the parents. She often understands and can communicate the "why" on a drug or treatment, not just the "what." If we have a question that she can't answer, which seems to be rare, she will always get the answer for us. I remember talking with her about Immunotherapy and what to expect with that, 8 months prior to receiving that treatment. She was able to educate me and prepare me for the possibilities of what might happen. But she did it in a way that did not instill fear while preserving the reality of the harshness of the treatment. I know that when I have questions she is a nurse that I can trust and count on for answers.
I was actually having a conversation with a nurse a couple of weeks ago about how much he has changed when it comes to his central line dressing change. We talked about a year ago when our son was getting MIBG radiation therapy and Allie was changing his dressing and how traumatizing it was for him. It reminded me of how Allie was able to help him become calmer during those dressing changes than any of the other nurses. She was so patient and careful with him as it was such a traumatizing experience for him. She would empower him with the timing of the next step which really helped him. With that kind of dedicated care, he eventually became comfortable with dressing changes and no longer worries, cries, screams, or throws a fit about them. He just casually places his hands behind his head and asks the nurses to compete on drawing the best picture for his top sticker. Allie was such a huge part of his journey in becoming comfortable with dressing changes. This is just one example of the impact she has had!
Allie is so wonderful about discussing with us what procedures, medications, and treatments our son is receiving. She will make sure to ask us first if there is any preference on how he receives his care. Her goal is to make him as comfortable as possible in difficult situations. To give an example when doing his first round of antibody/immunotherapy she made sure that his lines were appropriately separated where his purple lumen was clearly marked on his pole so that it would not be confused with meds that are supposed to go into his white lumen. She reassured us and showed us the different meds going into each line. We are definitely helicopter parents when it comes to his care and she is so wonderful about making sure we are part of the process so that we can find comfort in knowing that everything is setup correctly and to minimize any potential issues. This is such a huge help as we want to be focused on him and not worried about the level of care he is receiving. When Allie is our nurse, we almost forget to pay attention to what is being given to him as we trust so well in the care he is getting at that time. In our opinion, the nurses at Cincinnati are the best nurses around, and Allie is the best nurse we have ever had!