I would like to recognize John Rankin for his knowledge and compassion towards his patients who are facing a lifestyle change due to the diagnosis of rectal cancer. My husband first met John at his pre-op testing appointment before his surgery. During that meeting, John was able to prepare my husband with what to expect with an ileostomy and during follow-up care was able to build confidence in his ability to live a full and healthy lifestyle during this temporary change in his life.
After discharge we had a problem with the stoma application staying on, so we gave John a call and told him the problem we were having. We made arrangements to meet that afternoon on a Friday. During this visit, he was able to recommend and fit my husband with a new application that worked great throughout his recovery time.
Before leaving the hospital that evening, he gave us a call to see how things were going. He then said, "I will leave my cell phone on over the weekend" in case we ran into any problems we could call and leave a message and he would get back with us. We did not have any further problems, thankfully. On Monday morning, John called us to be sure everything was going okay. To me, this was a nurse who went beyond what was necessary to assure his patient's confidence emotionally and physically, knowing someone was available over a weekend if there was a need.
Today my husband is home recuperating from his 2nd surgery, to reverse the ileostomy and is doing well. John is an outstanding employee of Crouse Hospital and we want to thank him for his dedication to his profession and meeting the needs of his patients.