My husband was diagnosed with a grade 2 chondrosarcoma of his pelvis and had to have an internal hemipelvectomy with reconstruction and a hip replacement on the right side. He was placed in the trauma ICU, where he had to be under close observation because of the complexity of that type of surgery. While there, we met nurse Bethany Bennington. Full of bright energy for the night shift, she greeted me with the same level of passion she had shown my husband, her new patient. She asked what she could get me to make me as comfortable as possible, which I was blown away by, and let me stay by his side as long as I wanted/needed.

I appreciated how she explained everything she was doing and even gave us some nurse tricks and tips that no one else mentioned. For example, coming out of anesthesia was rough for my husband, and some of the meds would make him very nauseous. She mentioned that putting an alcohol pad under his nose could help naturally relieve the nausea instead of always having to push anti-nausea meds. Well, it worked like a charm, and it became our “go-to” remedy, especially when he had to have an NG tube put in.

Looking back, the only couple of nights I was able to leave the hospital and get a full night’s rest were the nights that Bethany was taking care of him because I just knew he would be looked after like he was her own family member. I feel that Bethany is so deserving of this recognition, and anyone who is lucky enough to have her as their nurse is so blessed because she brings all her heart to work every single day.

Thank you, Bethany! You will always be one of the best parts of this already hard enough journey. You were our angel then and always will be.