Chelsea Gray
November 2020
Chelsea
Gray
,
BSN, RN
3 West Progressive Care
Mayo Clinic Arizona
Phoenix
,
AZ
United States
Chelsea hugged me and I thanked her for being so good to both of us.
Chelsea is a very sweet compassionate person a competent nurse and above all, she was a true advocate for my husband while he was in her care. My husband was fighting esophageal cancer and it seemed whatever could go wrong did. He was admitted to the hospital on October 6, 2020. The first four days he was there I was only able to visit from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. With the intervention of a few nurses and our palliative care doctor I was allowed to stay in the hospital overnight with my husband.
Whenever I had questions (and being a licensed paramedic, I had a lot of questions) Chelsea followed through for us with answers to what tests were being done and approximate times. She was diligent in contacting different treatment teams to find out where they were in the process of making decisions and always kept us informed. Chelsea was always on time with medication. When a patient is dealing with pain and has a pain management regimen it is of the utmost importance be consistent with administration and not fall behind.
During this Covid19 time, there were specific rules regarding leaving the hospital and returning. One day I went down to the cafeteria and spent $24 on a sandwich and 4 liters of bottled water. I think I mentioned that I had a fresh gallon of water in my car, but I wasn't allowed to leave the building. When Chelsea went on her break, she offered to grab my water out of my truck. About 20 minutes later she came back with my water. This was not in her job description, but she did this out of the kindness of her heart.
On Monday, October 12, my husband had three procedures scheduled. Chelsea followed the progress and outcome of each. My husband did not make it through the last procedure. He was wheeled back to 3W35 still breathing but unresponsive with a DNR on file. Later that night after K passed away Chelsea came into the room with tears in her eyes. She had been following his progress through the procedure. She knew what I knew. The procedure went according to plan, but K never woke up. Chelsea hugged me and I thanked her for being so good to both of us. K was not surrounded by family but the genuine love and concern of Chelsea, Dr. Megan, and a few others on staff softened the blow of the worst day I have ever had, the day I lost the love of my life.
Whenever I had questions (and being a licensed paramedic, I had a lot of questions) Chelsea followed through for us with answers to what tests were being done and approximate times. She was diligent in contacting different treatment teams to find out where they were in the process of making decisions and always kept us informed. Chelsea was always on time with medication. When a patient is dealing with pain and has a pain management regimen it is of the utmost importance be consistent with administration and not fall behind.
During this Covid19 time, there were specific rules regarding leaving the hospital and returning. One day I went down to the cafeteria and spent $24 on a sandwich and 4 liters of bottled water. I think I mentioned that I had a fresh gallon of water in my car, but I wasn't allowed to leave the building. When Chelsea went on her break, she offered to grab my water out of my truck. About 20 minutes later she came back with my water. This was not in her job description, but she did this out of the kindness of her heart.
On Monday, October 12, my husband had three procedures scheduled. Chelsea followed the progress and outcome of each. My husband did not make it through the last procedure. He was wheeled back to 3W35 still breathing but unresponsive with a DNR on file. Later that night after K passed away Chelsea came into the room with tears in her eyes. She had been following his progress through the procedure. She knew what I knew. The procedure went according to plan, but K never woke up. Chelsea hugged me and I thanked her for being so good to both of us. K was not surrounded by family but the genuine love and concern of Chelsea, Dr. Megan, and a few others on staff softened the blow of the worst day I have ever had, the day I lost the love of my life.