My brother lives nine hours away from home. I received a phone call stating he had a brain bleed. As you can imagine I was terrified. I knew there would be more extensive testing done. He started out at another hospital in a small rural city. They were transporting him to a higher care facility in Indianapolis. Being unable to talk to him or anyone at the hospital had the whole family on edge.
Later that evening we called to get an update, and he was being admitted into the Trauma ICU at Ascension St. Vincent. The next day we were blessed with the most compassionate, caring nurse named Kelly Domenech. Kelly called and explained to us all of the testing that my brother had already had, and also what was left to be done. She answered any and every question we had. She allowed us to facetime with him on her personal phone. We were so thankful that she allowed us to see and talk to our brother as we made our way to Indiana from South Carolina.
Our brother is not an easy individual to get along with. He is very stubborn and headstrong. He currently had encephalitis and an altered mental status. The condition he was in made him even more anxious and stubborn. He wanted to check himself out hourly. Kelly somehow found a way to make him listen to her. She had to dig deep to find the ability to make him listen and make friends with him at the same time. She treated him with the highest level of care and respect we could have ever asked for. At this time there were no visitors allowed in the hospital.
Our brother was very confused and wanted to go home. After making the long drive to Indiana, Kelly made it worthwhile. She talked us to the direction of the parking lot outside of our brother's window. Once we got there, Kelly helped him to the window. We were able to wave from the parking lot, and he was able to see that his family was close. Being in an altered state in a hospital full of strangers that isn't allowing visitors, could be a very scary experience. Kelly made that stay the best that it could possibly be.
I feel like we became family over the few days that she had him. She went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure our brother stayed and received the treatment he needed. Kelly put us at ease knowing that she was there to care for him when we couldn't be. I don't think that I could ever thank her enough for essentially saving my brother's life. She was an absolute godsend to all of our family. Heroes indeed work at Ascension St. Vincent in Indianapolis, IN., and we were lucky enough to have Kelly Domenech.