Kim was my mother's nurse in the Comfort Care unit. She was truly a God-send during one of the most devastating times in our lives. Mom, after feeling fatigued, had labs drawn and found she was severely anemic. Subsequent testing revealed a mass that needed a life-saving/cancer removing surgery. Dr. W was the surgeon and that surgery went remarkably well. Sadly however, her body did not recover the way we (and the doctors) expected. She had an ileus which meant part of the body was not working. She had not eaten for days and a feeding tube was placed in hopes that it would bolster recovery but gasses inside began to suffocate her and she was moved to the ICU.

After the initial surgery, her body just wasn’t bouncing back. The day she was moved into the ICU she began to experience extreme pain. The surgeon decided to take her back into surgery to figure out what was causing the extreme pain. He found the issue and corrected it, then notified us that she would need a third surgery. Somewhere during all this, she had several strokes. We were told, given the damage done to her brain by the strokes, she would never be able to respond in any way and would need life support to survive. We made the heartbreaking decision to follow her wishes and not intubate.

At this point, we were directed to Comfort Care where we met an angel (nurse) whose name is Kim. I’ve seen a lot of people that care for others but Kim was on a different level. We were still full of hope that mom could just pop her eyes open and be well. Kim did not try to squelch that hope, even though the outlook was bleak. She let us talk and ask questions and took great care of our family. Her care for mom was beyond belief! You would have thought she was caring for her own family. The atmosphere of the room changed when she walked in. She was a calming presence when our world was turning upside down. I know she was a Christian as well and she certainly exuded the love of the Lord. The way she gently handled mom and the care she gave her was heartening to witness. We will never forget the way she lovingly lifted her arms, touched her face. Mom was precious to us and Kim made sure we knew she was precious to her as well. Mom went to heaven in the early hours. We want to thank Kim for the intentional grace and dignity she gave to mom in her final hours. Thank you seems so small…but thank you.