My son was admitted for an ileostomy. He went into surgery to have his appendix removed and expected it to be a one-hour operation and to go home that night. He woke up to find that he had been in surgery for 4 hours, and there had been complications due to his appendix bursting. He was told he was not going home anytime soon. He was in so much pain and was upset about what went wrong.  

Ashlyn was our nurse for the 2nd and 3rd nights as well as our day of discharge.  Those first 2 nights were very rough; trying to get his pain level under control, handling the constant vomiting on the 2nd night and managing our fears and concerns (my and my husband) and helping my son to understand what was happening and why.  Ashlyn was so caring and compassionate; she never once made us feel like we were interrupting other patients' care or being a nuisance for all the times we pressed the call button ( and it was a lot those first few nights).  She was calm even when we drilled her with questions.  She was extremely knowledgeable and patient, caring a kind.  She spent time with us, educating me, my husband, and our son when he was awake.  She cheered him on when he started walking laps on the floor and stopped in to check on him on the day she wasn't assigned to be his nurse.

On the day of discharge she played a round of Velcro ball darts with our son and told him how proud she was of his recovery. She impressed him with her ability to remove an IV without him feeling it.  It is truly because of her actions and responses that if our son ever has to go into the hospital again, he won't be afraid.  She never lost sight of who the patient was and included him in all the conversations about his care. Truly, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for all that you did for our son and my family.  We will never forget the care and compassion that you gave us during one of our most difficult weeks.  You made a very difficult time bearable.