I am compelled to share my family's awestruck gratitude for the care that Nurse Ken Lam provided not just to my 91-year-old mother, but to all of us, as my mom transitioned through hospice provided by the 6th Floor North team. We arrived in that team's midst on Tuesday and mom passed away on Sunday. The entire team was wonderful, including nurses K and S, and technician R. All were so very perceptive, respectful, and attentive to our family's wishes and requirements.
Even among this stellar team, however, Ken Lam was an amazing standout. He was so sensitive to our family's process of saying goodbye, and so tenderly responsive to my mom's retreat. He made sure her music was playing, her anxiety was soothed, and he took special care of all kinds of small but meaningful details, like keeping her mouth comfortable.
Ken also maintained a quiet watch over me, with gentle and exquisitely calibrated reminders about self-care, and insightful conversations to ease me along my own journey. Ken helped me to bear my emotional load over those intense days, and I knew-trusted down to my bones-that he was tending to my mom as I would if I had all his expertise and training to deploy. If ever an angel took human form, this is Ken. I know that when I think of angels from now on, I will visualize this man.