I was a patient in the ICU Covid ward with Covid pneumonia for two weeks. I was in critical condition and could not breathe on my own. The Doctors told me that due to my age, I would not be a good candidate for the ventilator and that I most likely would not survive this. My only option was to prone.
One of my Nurses, Amie Powell, took on the challenge of becoming my personal cheerleader and with her wonderful personality, enthusiasm, and non-stop energy, coached me into believing that I had it in me to fight. Amie convinced me to try to prone and I was able to do this without any sedation for many hours at a time. Amie wrote encouraging messages on the window for me like "You are my Rock Star!", "Keep going because you got this!" She would let me know how many hours I had left to prone etc.
Amie told me that she had never seen a patient prone as long as I had without being sedated. This wonderful encouragement from Amie kept me going and I believe I owe my life to her. I couldn't have made it through without Amie's selfless cheerleading, encouragement, and personal attention she gave me. All my nurses were wonderful at AU but Amie was my rock star!
When it was time to move me down to the regular Covid ward, Amie took on an extra shift on her day off just so that she could be the one to take me there. Later my son told me that Amie called him to ask him to tell her a little about me. She wanted to know about my life so that she would have things she could talk to me about. This I believe really helped me keep my spirits up. I'm just so grateful that she came into my life when I needed it the most. We have become friends through all of this and share stories when we talk. Amie is amazing and AU is lucky to have such an amazing caring and thoughtful nurse there. I really didn't think I would make it out alive, but I'm here to say a very big thank you to Amie Powell.
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This is Amie’s 2nd DAISY Award!