April 2020
Chris
Williams
,
RN
Pool Nursing Unit
Orlando Regional Medical Center
Orlando
,
FL
United States
My husband has glioblastoma stage 4 brain cancer. We were hospital free for 8 months until the tumor progressed and were back in the hospital. My husband, D, is a very shy man. The first few days he was not verbal. Not even responsive. We tried various ways of keeping him clean and dry. They used a bigger condom cath and thought outside the box to keep it secured without hurting D. Even though Chris had to clean D 2-3 times in an hour's time he was respectful and calming. My husband D was ashamed and thought he did something wrong by not controlling his urine. Chris kept assuring him everything was OK. Chris said that he was here for him. We shared a video with them of D at therapy 2 months ago standing on his own. Also 2 days before restarting chemo on an exercise bike. This showed a stronger man fighting this cancer versus a lump in a bed. Chris gave us a few minutes to see the man he was helping to get back to a healing journey. I know the tumor needs to regress again so the pressure comes off the brain and stops affecting his body. It's enlightening that in a busy medical environment, D was treated with passion and respect. D was never a medical record number or just a chart.