It is hard to describe the gratitude and love I feel for my nurse. I spent a week at Banner Desert after a horrific car accident that left me needing emergency surgery for a perforated small bowel. I spent two or three days in the ICU before being moved to the 4th floor. Up to this point, I was on a lot of pain and nausea medications and spent most of my time sleeping, but I "woke up" when I got to the trauma floor - and how amazing it was to wake up to Lexi!

I was lucky enough to have Lexi as my nurse for three days. From the moment I met her, I was filled with a sense of deep relief that she would be caring for me. Apart from having three babies, I had never been in the hospital. I was in extraordinary pain (compounded by extraordinary nausea) and felt extremely fragile and uncertain. I was traumatized from the accident, lonely for my family, and discouraged about the long road ahead. She made everything better.  

I know she was caring for other patients, too, but she made me feel like I was her top priority. Her kindness - not to mention a killer personality and awesome sense of humor - helped me get past the sadness and discouragement I felt when I woke up every morning. I'm not exaggerating when I say the sun started shining when she entered my room. The foggy loneliness dissipated, and I felt "human" again - just by virtue of her care, compassion, and conversation. I give her absolute credit for making each day livable.

She is the reason my mental health didn't take a nosedive during a truly scary and awful experience. She was also incredibly competent, considerate, and incredibly knowledgeable about her work. She took the time to answer my many questions about my injuries, the medications I was taking, how I could meet my recovery milestones, etc. She was adept in every way, including placing an IV with a very gentle touch, giving me shots in my very tender belly, administering medications, helping me to get out of bed and walk for the first time, and helping me eat and drink. The list goes on and on.