My sister has been estranged from our family for almost two decades, which is another story entirely. However, it is important because when we received a call that she had lost consciousness and was taken to Spartanburg Medical Center, the urgency for us to get to her and help her was multiplied by the sadness of misunderstandings and long separation. She asked for us. She thought it was 1984, but she asked for us. We had received word the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong and that she was going to be discharged to a homeless shelter because she didn't have any money. As we were driving from Kansas City, MO, to Spartanburg, SC, we called to confirm our arrival.

In the days prior we had conversed with case managers and nurses. We wanted to make sure our sister could safely travel. We wanted to make sure we knew what to do to keep her safe until we could get her to a hospital in Missouri. We confirmed an appointment with the neurologist, hospitalist, and the nurse on call the next morning. They all gave my mother, sister, and myself their undivided and unrushed attention for over an hour while they caught us up on my sister’s health. They explained a patient would never be kicked out of the hospital and that they had not been able to find a diagnosis for why she was having migraines and new, onset petit mal seizures.

When the doctors left, her nurse was kind, attentive, communicative, empathetic, and thorough. My sister had been having visual occurrences, not quite hallucinations, but almost. Working with her nurse, we encouraged her to talk about what she was seeing. It was very disturbing to her. She knew it wasn't quite right but was having a hard time discerning what was real. We let her touch things to explore them physically, not just visually. We talked to her about what was real about what she was seeing, and her nurse carried on with her after we were gone. The doctors had explained to us that without a diagnosis if we took her to another hospital then she would have to undergo all the tests again. My sister’s nurse talked to her about what he was doing. He helped her be as comfortable as possible.

My sister, 47, still carries a teddy bear with her everywhere she goes. His name is D. Matthew made her feel comfortable with “D” her teddy bear and made her feel more solid in her being. We, the family, are not doctors, but we believe that a lot of her pain and stress come from some deeper issues. Issues that we, including the entire world, have only recently learned how to talk about and hold space for. Issues that can create so much stress for a person that their body absorbs the stress. I am trying to protect her privacy, but to let you know that this human being is carrying a great deal of trauma, and she could not have gotten a better nurse. One who offered every kindness and friendship. This nurse saw her, and he saw her family and he was gentle with all of us. He even came to check in on my sister when she was no longer in his rotation.

We just got my sister home to Kansas City yesterday. There is still a long road to climb. In the time between, when we were states away, we knew we could reach out to Matthew and he would get answers for us. We could send her an eye mask and grilled nuggets from Chick-fil-A and he would make sure she got them. He helped her get the glue out of her hair after her EEG and eased her worry about it before they applied the electrodes to her. He offered to buy her a longer cable charger for her phone when we realized her charger wouldn't reach the bed - With his own money! We didn't let him do that, but the fact that he offered... Can you believe he made that offer? When we did get her phone to reach her bed, then she could do video calls with us. If we had questions about meds, about procedures, or if we had notions of what to do, for example, we thought that wearing an eye patch might help her visual hallucinations. Her left eye droops when her migraine is in full effect. He understood what we were suggesting and talked to her about it. My sister didn't want to try the patch and he deferred to her, as he should have. I have to tell you, I feel that my letter is poorly conveying all the comfort and care this nurse brought to his job. Writing it down seems like it is minimizing. But he eased all our hearts. He eased my sister’s pain beyond the medical concerns and that was everything. Matthew – Matthew won our hearts. If we could have taken him home, we would happily have done so.

Congratulations Matthew Johnson, our June 2022 DAISY Honoree!