My mother had a CABG on a Monday. She did really well and we were ready to go home on that Friday. Thursday night Mom went into vfib and coded. She ended up back in SICU on the vent. Although her CT was negative, Dr. H. believes she had a PE that broke up into such small pieces that made it hard to see on the scan.
When mom was extubated Friday morning Kristy was her nurse in SICU. Not long after being extubated Mom coded again. About an hour later she coded for the third time. Kristy was amazing. Mama's blood pressure was low and she was put on many medications to keep her alive. She wasn't having any output and she was given numerous medications to increase her output. As a former SICU nurse, in this SICU, I know how difficult it is to keep track of all these drips, labs, output and keep family up-to-date on all that is going on. She was very patient with us going in and out checking on Mom. She never once made us feel like we were in the way. She kept us informed of what was going on and any changes.
Sunday Mom's condition worsened even more, once we made the decision to withdraw treatment, Kristy went about her job so unobtrusively we didn't even know she was there.
My mother was a retired ICU/EC nurse. Nursing for her was not a job; it was a calling and a passion. I see those same qualities in Kristy. I know because of Kristy we had a couple of more days with my mother and were able to say our good-byes.