I was a patient for strabismus surgery. The entire staff was wonderful, but as far as nursing is concerned, one nurse deserves recognition for their outstanding care.
My right eye was being operated on for the 4th time in my life (I am 66 years old). I was born with crossed eyes and as a result, had 2 surgeries at age 3 and 6. I continue to have regular eye check-ups and in 1991, at a routine visit, the doctor discovered a large cyst in the medial orbit of my right eye that had to be surgically removed. The cyst was quite large and unfortunately had damaged a nerve, resulting in limited eye movement and exotropia. Because of this, I was forced to turn my head to the left to see what was in front of me. This contributed to chronic, progressive neck pain coupled with upper and lower back pain (the result of 40 years of nursing). After over 25 years of being told, there was nothing further that could be done to correct my eye position, I was seen by Dr. C who agreed to operate. It was the 4th surgery on that eye - so it was a bit risky.
I was the first case of the day and arrived early. The entire staff in the check-in area and pre-op were wonderful, making me feel like I was their only patient. I was scared for the surgery, but everything went well going into the OR. Everyone was so attentive, comforting me as I was transferred out of the OR and into my recovery room bay. My husband was immediately brought to my bedside. My nurse was right there by my side providing comfort, sympathy, and support as she monitored my vitals, etc. Dr. C thought he would keep me overnight, but decided late in the day I could be discharged. Throughout the day, both medical and nursing staff were attentive, but Ashley Sanchez was remarkable. One would have thought that I was her only patient, although I know otherwise. I was so grateful and told Ashley so many times, but she felt that she was doing nothing above or beyond. After I was finally discharged, around 4:30 PM, Ashley accompanied me to our car and I was on my way home. I looked through my bag of supplies while I was still in the area and noticed that my eye drops were not in the bag! I immediately called the floor and Ashley found them and actually brought them down to our car. She was only supposed to work from 8-10:30 that day but were there past 4:30 PM. She is what any nurse should call a role model. She made what was a terrifying situation, a bit more bearable as well as taking excellent physical care of me. I will never forget her.
An epilogue; my vision is almost to baseline - will need a prescription change in my lenses. My eyes are straight, looking forward, and I am receiving PT for the neck/back issues and am starting to feel an improvement in my pain level.
In the humble opinion of a cardiac nurse for nearly 40 years, Ashley Sanchez is a remarkable nurse.
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Ashley treated my daughter with respect and compassion. My daughter has disabilities and sometimes is treated as such. Ashley did not do this. When my daughter did not want the saltines or graham crackers that are offered, Ashley asked about a banana and my daughter wanted that. She left and came back with one. Since my daughter had eye surgery and had a patch on the eye and the other eye is blind, Ashley hand-fed her. It wasn't until I took over and felt it was cold that I realized Ashley took it from her own lunch.
I just thought that was such a wonderful thing to do - and she did not think twice about how to help her patient feel better. Ashley is an extraordinary nurse.