I feel as if Karen was my guardian angel when I was in the Cardiac Intensive Care for a week. She went above and beyond in taking care of me. I was brought into Cardiac IC after having an emergency pericardiocentesis procedure on my heart. She explained to me in lay terms that I had the equivalency of four full cans of pop around my heart that didn’t belong there, basically crushing my heart and then I had fluid in both of my lungs that needed to be drained. When I finally got the bad news on Saturday afternoon, Karen sat with me and called my husband for me to come in so I could tell him, with my daughters hearing the news after him. Karen was such a mental strength to me and helped keep me strong through everything. She wrote down all the procedures that were done and helped me write down all the meds so I could explain them to family. Karen was such a great support advocate for me when the doctors would come in. She would take notes with my daughter and helped us to ask questions. She was by my side making sure I was comfortable, being able to get up to the bathroom and sit in the chair. I felt like I was being treated as a queen. We found out we were of the same faith, and she brought up my spirits always. When one of my arms blew up overnight from a misplaced needle, she quickly made sure I kept it elevated and kept a special heating pad on. She was always a smile, voice and boost of energy and hope that I leaned on. I miss her dearly, wish her well, and truly feel she is a special blessing to the cardiac IC at Silver Cross.