At 56 years old, I had no idea that the symptoms I experienced on the 4th of July were related to congestive heart failure and AFib. I was admitted to a special unit at Rush Copley for patients who do not require the high level of care provided by an ICU but did require more monitoring than is typically provided by a medical unit. I am a single mom with little social support and I arrived scared to death. Luna played a pivotal role in my recovery. 

Hearing my heart was struggling to beat in a regular manner and pump as well as it should was devastating. You may as well have taken my advanced college degree and thrown it out of the window because I did not understand what was happening, why I had been prescribed so many new medications and I feared what the future held in terms of a prognosis. All of the staff that cared for me during my stay were excellent. However, Luna cared for me several nights during my stay and deserves this nomination because she took an exceptional amount of time to answer all of my questions with such knowledge, compassion, and patience. I did not feel embarrassed to ask the same questions more than once. One night, Luna offered to show me a small replica of a heart that opened up, illustrating the atrium and valves. I felt so much better after seeing exactly what the physicians were describing. Luna even took the time to weave in information about the medications in terms of how they were helping my heart. 

Toward the end of my stay, I had enough of the bed alarm, inhaler, and shots to prevent blood clots. Perhaps Luna sensed that my patience was running thin (or maybe her patience was running thin) one evening when we thought the bed alarm was off, and it wasn't. We laughed so hard when it sounded as Luna jumped to quickly turn it off. I mention this because that moment snapped me out of feeling sorry for myself.

I am an active participant in my recovery and grateful for the care provided by Rush Copley, especially Luna.