Anyone who has ever had to spend any amount of time in a hospital for any reason can tell you that it is not the most joyful experience to have. No matter how nice the hospital or how wonderful the food, it's not home. That is why it is so important for the staff to be understanding and willing to do what needs to be done to make a patient or family of the patient feel better about a not so fun experience. Jesse Thompson embodies that value of care and understanding. To say that she went beyond her job description, would be putting it mildly.

I was brought into the Aurora ER around ten in the morning with a flare up of M.S. I was scared and worried and after spending the better part of the last year of my diagnosis bottling up my feelings about my fears for the future, I was ready to give up. By the time I was admitted into the hospital for the night and met Jesse it was approaching nine at night. Needless to say that I was hungry after my day in the ER without food and first thing I wanted was something to eat. I was not quiet about my other "need" for food and Jesse was right on it, getting a doctor to declare my diet so I could eat. She personally called in an order of food for me so that I could eat as soon as possible, but she didn't stop there.

She took the time to talk to me like a human being instead of just as a nurse talking to a patient and her openness made me trust her. She sat in my room with me asking me simple questions about how I was feeling at the moment, how I found out about my M.S. the previous June, and what I've been dealing with to help get my independence back after my diagnosis. She listened to everything I had to say, hugged me when I cried, and then she did something I really didn't expect. She told me what she was going to do to help.

Jesse told me that she was going to make sure that someone from the hospital staff would be in to talk to me in the morning about my situation. Right away I felt like dismissing the thought of talking to anyone else about my worries over money, having no job, and being denied social security benefits and having to go back to a house that was unsafe for me to return to with my new, very limited mobility. But she told me to trust her and I'm glad that I did.

Throughout the night I know that Jesse checked in on me and any time I hit my call light she was there with a smile on her face and the most cheerful personality for someone who has been up all night. There was one last surprise that she got me that I received at lunch the following day. We had talked about the fact that I just "celebrated" my 30th birthday earlier in April. I explained to her that after everything that was going on, I didn't bother to celebrate it at all. She not only wished me a happy birthday, but had set it up so that with my lunch I was also given a slice of very good birthday cake.

I spent several more days in the hospital and every time she was on duty, Jesse made it a point to stop by my room. (She was always my nurse if she was there) and checked in with me. She wanted to know what the plan was for my release, who had talked to me about my situation and what they were doing to help with it, and to just make sure that I had anything, including moral support, while still in the hospital.

There is nothing I can say that can express how much Jesse did for me. She gave me hope again that not everything was lost just because I have M.S. If it wasn't for Jesse taking the time to show that she cared, I would never have gotten the help that I needed. I will forever be grateful for her and the time she took out of her night to just listen and offer help.