R, who was in the Sentara Williamsburg Hospital, had a heart attack while awaiting a bed at Sentara Heart Hospital in Norfolk. He then spent the next 21 days recuperating in SNGH. As you know 3 weeks is a long time to stay in a hospital, even a very nice one like Sentara Heart Hospital. We are so impressed with the staff and quality of care during our stay. Lynae Brooks is a miracle worker!

R does not like walking or most types of exercise. When people ask my husband “Do you have allergies?” I reply “exercise.” Lynae sweetly explained why walking is so important to aid in his recovery. On her first attempt to get R out of bed, she listened to at least 45 minutes of R’s concerns as to why he should not or could not take a walk. With a sincere smile, Lynae very intelligently and professionally addressed each of his concerns. R finally relented. Lynae was so patient and kind with him. She even talked R into daily walks! Lynae always arranged for someone to follow R with his oxygen tank while they slowly walked around the 4th floor. I have a video of the achievement.

Lynae demonstrated daily her compassion for the patients, for nursing care, and her respect and admiration for the doctors and her co-workers. Lynae is always smiling and happy to help us no matter how insignificant our requests were. She was so thoughtful and understanding of R’s serious medical condition and helped us to understand what the doctors were saying.

Once a doctor told us R was not strong enough to handle surgery so our only recourse at this time was for him to go home with medicines. I asked “How long could R live?” and he said, despite it being hard to predict, he estimated a week to a few months. I started crying and Lynae comforted me through this extremely difficult time. During R’s stay, my 95-year-old dad fell and broke his left hip. I needed to spend the weekend at his skilled nursing care facility in Williamsburg but was afraid to leave R.

R is from Paris and has a very strong accent. Many times it is hard to understand him. Lynae said she was working the weekend and assured me she would take special care of R during my absence. And she did! I think R must have been disappointed with my return. He was enjoying Lynae’s and all the nurses' care and attention. The nurses even brought him fresh croissants and baguettes from a local French pastry shop. I complained that the hospital does not let R have a good night’s sleep which I believe is very important for his recovery. I wrote a note “Please see Lynae before entering” She was a good sport and taped this note to his door.