I was admitted to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital for unknown abdominal pain. My stay was over a week long, and during that time I came across many extraordinary nurses. However, there is one nurse in particular who stands out the most. It was the nurse who greeted my husband, K, and me, Jeanne Wehling. There were many times that she was my voice when I didn't have one, she advocated for K and me at every turn, and when I was feeling anxious, sad or nervous, she comforted me.
One evening my pain had reached a 10/10 and we still had no explanation as to why. Jeanne had called the hospitalist to see if there was anything that she could do to help manage my pain but was denied. Soon after, K had approached Jeanne and was very anxious and nervous due to the pain that I was in. He requested that a surgeon come in as soon as possible to figure out what was going on. Jeanne immediately got on the phone and called the surgeon, and within an hour a surgeon was there. I am positive that if she had not gotten ahold of a surgeon, she would have driven to their house and picked them up. Soon, the doctor was in my room going over my CT scans explaining what he believed was going on. Within an hour I was having surgery.
On Wednesday, which was my first official day out of the ICU, I had a visitor. It was Jeanne Wehling. She didn't come in dressed in her scrubs to ask about my pain or to give me medicine, she was at the hospital that day to study for one of her classes that she is taking. During one of her breaks, she made sure to come up and check on me. She brought me a wonderful flower and one card for me and one card for my husband. I don't remember too much of her visit due to my low sodium and pain medication, but I felt her presence and knew that she cared about me as a patient and as a person. When she was done studying she came back in to see how K was doing, he had just gotten there after work. The second time that she came I was a little bit more aware that she was there. I know that K was extremely happy to see her, which made my heart happy.
On my final night, I was blessed with Jeanne being my nurse one last time. It felt like we had come full circle, she was the nurse to first greet me upon entering and she was the nurse during my last stay. My husband wanted to stay with me that night, so she made sure that he got a bed, not just a cot, a bed. Before her shift ended, she thought I may have fallen asleep, but I didn't. She was coming into my room to drop off a letter to me wishing me hope and strength and during my recovery.
As I stated in the beginning, there was not one nurse that I had that I can say a single negative thing about. They all lifted my spirits when I was down, came to my call when I needed them, pushed me when I needed to be pushed, helped me find my strength again. Then there is Jeanne who just went the extra mile, who went above and beyond what she needed to do. I struggle with finding the words to express the care that Jeanne gave me. This document has only briefly described all that she did for me, my family, and even guests during my stay. I know that there was a great deal of behind the scenes actions as well that occurred that she did for me as well. I will never be able to repay her for all that she had done for me to help me heal and emotionally get through this difficult time. Jeanne Wehling is an extraordinary nurse with true superhuman powers. She shows compassion to all of her patients and to all those around her.
Nurse: "just another word to describe a person strong enough to tolerate anything and soft enough to understand anyone"