Luanne Jelm-Eickholtz
December 2023
Luanne
Jelm-Eickholtz
,
MSN, RNC-EFM
Labor & Delivery
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Park Ridge
,
IL
United States
Luanne, without hesitation, sat next to me and stayed in my room for a long time just talking to me and keeping me company.
Luanne has made such a difference for me and I will never forget what she has done for us. Since the first time I met her, she has been so caring and loving, she walked in as I was on Facetime with my oldest while he was showing me my other son's race, this was the first time I realized that I would be missing a lot of my kid's sports events and activities so it hit me hard and I started crying.
Luanne, without hesitation, sat next to me and stayed in my room for a long time just talking to me and keeping me company. I felt like I could tell her anything so I immediately had this sense of trust in her. Fast forward a few days later and I told her how I was very nervous about going under general anesthesia for my surgery (placenta increta) and I mentioned to her that I was sad because I wasn't going to be able to see our daughter being born, I also told her that I was concerned about not having a spinal and how that could affect pain control after my surgery since I didn't want to take a lot of narcotics for pain management. (I had a spinal for my previous 6 c-sections and was great).
As we were talking about this, she suggested the idea of having a spinal as well as general anesthesia, that way my pain would be better controlled. I had no idea that this could be a possibility. Not only did she suggest that but she also went out of her way to present my case to the doctors and contact the head of anesthesia to explain to them my situation and concerns. A few days later, she told me that she contacted the anesthesiologist to come and talk to me (not any anesthesiologist, the one that she liked the most and would understand my concerns). The doctor came to talk to me and said that we could absolutely do the spinal and then go under general anesthesia, which means that I can be awake when our precious daughter is born and after I see her and hopefully kiss her, then they will put me under. When I heard that there was a real possibility that I could see her being born, I literally cried, I will treasure that moment forever, and without Luanne, this wouldn't even be a possibility.
I understand that I am heading into a difficult surgery and anything could happen; they might need to put me under right away and this might not happen but the fact that she went above and beyond and advocated for me, presented the case to the doctors, and asked the doctor to come and speak to me, absolutely 100% she is a DAISY Nurse.
Luanne, without hesitation, sat next to me and stayed in my room for a long time just talking to me and keeping me company. I felt like I could tell her anything so I immediately had this sense of trust in her. Fast forward a few days later and I told her how I was very nervous about going under general anesthesia for my surgery (placenta increta) and I mentioned to her that I was sad because I wasn't going to be able to see our daughter being born, I also told her that I was concerned about not having a spinal and how that could affect pain control after my surgery since I didn't want to take a lot of narcotics for pain management. (I had a spinal for my previous 6 c-sections and was great).
As we were talking about this, she suggested the idea of having a spinal as well as general anesthesia, that way my pain would be better controlled. I had no idea that this could be a possibility. Not only did she suggest that but she also went out of her way to present my case to the doctors and contact the head of anesthesia to explain to them my situation and concerns. A few days later, she told me that she contacted the anesthesiologist to come and talk to me (not any anesthesiologist, the one that she liked the most and would understand my concerns). The doctor came to talk to me and said that we could absolutely do the spinal and then go under general anesthesia, which means that I can be awake when our precious daughter is born and after I see her and hopefully kiss her, then they will put me under. When I heard that there was a real possibility that I could see her being born, I literally cried, I will treasure that moment forever, and without Luanne, this wouldn't even be a possibility.
I understand that I am heading into a difficult surgery and anything could happen; they might need to put me under right away and this might not happen but the fact that she went above and beyond and advocated for me, presented the case to the doctors, and asked the doctor to come and speak to me, absolutely 100% she is a DAISY Nurse.