Kati's patient was so touched by her care, that she took the time to write a four-page story about her experience with Kati as her nurse. She stated, "Nurses are angels in comfortable shoes." The patient noted that she was on vacation for the first time in three years and the first anniversary of her father's passing was approaching when she began to feel bad. Her symptoms started as a knot in her stomach and quickly progressed to pain that she needed to address. She decided to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night while her husband, 11-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter were asleep and take a trip to the ED. She assumed she would be back home before morning light, but that didn't end up being the case.
After being triaged in the ED, she was informed that Kati would be taking care of her. The patient noted of her first impression of Kati: "She walked in with a smile. And not a polite stranger smile. A smile a friend would give you. I think she could tell I was scared. I told her to be easy on me as she took some blood and started my IV. I'm not good with these kinds of things. The last time I was in a hospital I got very bad news about my dad. I don't want to go through this again.
I asked her what the worst-case scenario could be for this visit. She warned me about appendicitis, but it could just as easily be something else going on in there, too. Apparently, lots of people come in with abdominal pain. She spoke to me like a friend and immediately put me at ease. They deal with this a lot. We talked about our babies, our husbands, and the night shift in the ER. A different nurse came back to take me for a CT scan. I opted not to take the contrast since I didn't want anything to affect my ability to breastfeed the baby. The ER doc said I didn't have to and they knew what they were looking for. Fingers crossed—it would be something easy to find and easy to fix.
I didn't have any milk pumped at the house. What would my husband do without any milk for the baby? She's okay during the day with solid foods but she still wakes up 2-3 times a night looking to nurse. But it'll be fine, I'll be back before they even wake up."
When the ER Doctor came back, they informed the patient that it was indeed appendicitis and she would need to have surgery. When the patient began to become anxious, Kati reassured the patient that the surgeon was really good and that she would love him. She also asked about whether the patient had a breast pump or milk at the house for her 8-month-old. She didn't have any milk at the house, and the hospital didn't have a pump. Kati rushed to disconnect her antibiotic from the IV and said she would go to Walmart to get her a manual pump that way she could get as much milk as she could before the surgery and maybe that would be enough to hold the baby over until the mom was well enough to feed her again. "I told her she didn't need to do that. I have a pump at the house I could have my husband bring in the morning, please take my debit card, something. She wouldn't hear any of it. As she rushed out the door, I thanked her, told her how much I appreciated this, and as the door shut behind her, I cried. How did I get so lucky to be assigned to this nurse? She not only got it, but she GOT IT. With me being in this state of anxiety and sleep deprivation, she could see more clearly than I could and knew what the best thing to do was. She was all I had. And somehow, I completely trusted her. How I didn't think all the way through the breastfeeding situation I will never know. I can't feed the baby once they start the antibiotics. Later, when they do the surgery, I'll be pumped full of narcotics. It's going to be a couple of days before I can feed her. I'll have to toss anything I pump once the process starts.
She came back in about 30 minutes later with a bag of goodies. Not only had she gotten the pump set, but another set of storage bottles in case the ones that came with the set weren't enough. I asked what did this cost, how much I owed her, is she sure she won't be in trouble, and she completely brushed me off. 'Don't worry about it. You need it, so I got it.' Why would a complete stranger do this for me?! Because she's not a stranger, she's an angel!
We opened the set together and skimmed through the directions to learn how this thing worked (I've never used a manual pump before). After we got what we needed, she left me to get started. I felt bad for taking up one of her rooms for longer than I should have, but she assured me that I could stay as long as I needed to and there was no rush to get me upstairs. I needed to get this milk for the baby.
Later on, she came back to check on me. I had pumped as much as I felt like I could and she hooked me back up to the antibiotics. It was time to take me up to my room where I'd be for the next couple of days. She got me a warm blanket and helped carry all my stuff. She labeled the bottle I filled and told me they'd keep it in a fridge for me to give to my husband when he came later on. It wasn't all he'd need, but it was all I had. She'd found out in the meantime that I could pump two hours after antibiotics and it would be safe in the breastmilk, and that I needed to pump again in the morning before they did the surgery. She said to ask a nurse to label it for me and put it with the milk from tonight. Maybe that would be enough. She told me she'd be back to work the next night and she would come to check on me after the surgery was done."
Kati came back the next day to check on the patient after her surgery and the next morning to say goodbye. The patient noted that they talked about their husbands, babies, parents, the journey to and struggles with motherhood, and the beach. "It really felt like she was a friend I had known all my life. It still shocks me, a few weeks later, that she was so nonchalant about the whole thing. I know it's her job to be a nurse and take care of people, but to this day I still don't believe she knows how much she meant to me. She did more for me during the short time I was able to stay with her than I would've ever imagined a nurse could do. For me to be fighting a silent battle in grief over losing my dad, a physical battle with my stupid appendix, and the ever-constant psychological battle of trying to be the best mom I can be, to stumble upon this woman at one of the lowest times of my life was an absolute blessing. I still don't know how I was lucky enough to have received it. She kept acting like it was no big deal. And I guess to her it wasn't. But to be hundreds of miles from home at an already difficult time in my life, in the middle of the night, to meet a nurse who gave a smile like she meant it, talked to me like she was talking to a friend, went to get and also pay for a breast pump I thought I didn't need, checked on me multiple times, and commiserated with me about some of our life's struggles is a big deal to me. No, it's a huge deal. She doesn't know it, but she single-handedly made my whole vacation worth it even though it came dangerously close to being awful. I don't regret one moment I had to spend at the hospital. I met a real-life angel who gave me the strength to be brave and I gained a true friend that weekend.
Since she wouldn't let me repay her in any other way, I felt that nominating her for The DAISY Award was the second best thing I could do to thank her. If Kati truly exemplifies the care and compassion that this Award stands for. She is absolutely incredible.
And to her I want to say, from the bottom of my heart, and with all my love:
Thank you, Kati. It was nothing to you, but everything to me!"