My son was admitted for emergency appendectomy Labor Day weekend. He was in recovery on the 3rd floor and one nurse spent the most time with him. Her name was Jamie Goldberg. Jamie was sincerely concerned for N. After what should have been a very routine laparoscopic procedure, he did not come out of recovery as expected. She seemed concerned along with me when N's BP was in the 60/40 range and he was turning white as a sheet and writhing in pain. She contacted the surgeon who had done surgery as he was not at hospital that evening. She expressed to me that he was busy and stated he would come in the morning. She said she was hesitant to call him back as he expressed not to have hourly updates.
I could see the concern on her face and my gut was screaming at me to not just let it go. At her urging, I pressed for her to call him back. He ended up coming back in and finding out through exploratory surgery that N had lost a significant amount of blood and as the OR nurse stated, "found the source of the bleeding". He ended up having to have a transfusion but will recover in a few weeks. I truly felt that if Jamie had not been as persistent as she was, my son would have died that night.
The following days while we were there, I slept at the hospital. Each morning she would bring in some coffee and breakfast for me so I did not have to leave. When N was discharged from hospital, she started to wheel him out but got called away. Another nurse took him out and she got teary eyed when we got on the elevator. I had seen this nurse one other time and it was brief. I asked her if she was okay and she replied, "He is a miracle...just a miracle". I asked her what did she mean and she hugged me. I said..."Was he that close to death?" She told me that if it had not been for Jamie's persistence, they don't think he would have made it. I truly credit Jamie with saving his life. She did not worry about anyone else other than her patient and his well-being that night. She risked being scolded each time she contacted the surgeon by wanting him to come see my son as this was not what the surgeon had told her he was going to do.
She was truly a guardian angel during our stay. I can't thank her enough. N has asked me if we can go up and see her sometime and say hello. She has made such a wonderful impact on both of us. I would be so happy to see her honored with the DAISY Award, as I understand that this is a huge honor to bestow on a nurse.