Mel Pavel
June 2020
Mel
Pavel
,
RN, BSN
Cardiac ICU
Swedish Medical Center
Englewood
,
CO
United States
Greetings my ICU friends,
I was hoping to be able to see all of you in person but obviously that's not going to happen for a while so I'm sending this letter, I wish I could do more. 1 month ago today my wife passed away after more than a week of an incredibly valiant effort by everyone in your ICU.
It's difficult for me to express the gratitude I have for everyone on staff there. M was ill for basically the past 5 years. We have been in and out of hospitals. Nowhere and I mean nowhere, was the level of care even close to what we got at Swedish ICU. You folks are in a league all your own. As sick as she was, and as hopeless as it seemed, we were constantly treated like we were the most important people on the planet. The professionalism, empathy, kindness, and honesty we were afforded was way beyond anything we had ever experienced before. You made the most difficult time in my life, much much easier to deal with. I cannot thank you enough.
I hadn't planned on calling anyone out individually as everyone was just beyond amazing, but I do have to specifically mention one person as her professionalism, empathy, and skills as a nurse gave us something very special. My oldest son is in the Army, we had to jump through hoops with the Red Cross and the government to get him leave so he could come to be here with his mom. It took almost a week to get him his leave and his flight to Denver. His flight was due in at 11 pm. The original plan was to come to the ICU the following morning so he could say his goodbyes, we had planned on turning off her life support later that morning.
M's nurse that night was Mel, sorry, I don't know her last name, but with that fiery red hair, she's hard to miss. Mel and I spoke before I left to go pick my son up at the airport. With her experience and skills as a nurse, and her impeccable honesty, Mel let me know that things were worsening, and she didn't think M would last through the night. That honesty was a gift we can never repay. I picked my son up at the airport and brought them straight over to the hospital at 1 am. We spent an hour or so with M, he got to talk to her, and tell her he loved her. I'm pretty sure she was waiting for him because not one hour after we got back home I got the call from Mel saying she had passed. Mel's skills, honesty, and professionalism allowed my son to say a final goodbye to his mom, and for that, we will forever be grateful.
My thoughts have been with all of you often during these trying times. I can only imagine the things you are dealing with or will be dealing with. Hopefully, there will be some time between when the lockdown ends and I have to go back to work so I can come by and thank all of you in person, maybe with a stack of pizzas!
Again, let me just say one more time to all of you, thank you so, so much, you all made this difficult time so much easier for us, no amount of thanks is enough.
Thanks again and please, stay safe and healthy, I know we are just one family among many whose lives you have made a serious impact on. When I think about how many others you have helped the way you helped us, I can't help but not only tear up, but get angry that you are not getting the full support you need in these most trying times. Hang in there.
I was hoping to be able to see all of you in person but obviously that's not going to happen for a while so I'm sending this letter, I wish I could do more. 1 month ago today my wife passed away after more than a week of an incredibly valiant effort by everyone in your ICU.
It's difficult for me to express the gratitude I have for everyone on staff there. M was ill for basically the past 5 years. We have been in and out of hospitals. Nowhere and I mean nowhere, was the level of care even close to what we got at Swedish ICU. You folks are in a league all your own. As sick as she was, and as hopeless as it seemed, we were constantly treated like we were the most important people on the planet. The professionalism, empathy, kindness, and honesty we were afforded was way beyond anything we had ever experienced before. You made the most difficult time in my life, much much easier to deal with. I cannot thank you enough.
I hadn't planned on calling anyone out individually as everyone was just beyond amazing, but I do have to specifically mention one person as her professionalism, empathy, and skills as a nurse gave us something very special. My oldest son is in the Army, we had to jump through hoops with the Red Cross and the government to get him leave so he could come to be here with his mom. It took almost a week to get him his leave and his flight to Denver. His flight was due in at 11 pm. The original plan was to come to the ICU the following morning so he could say his goodbyes, we had planned on turning off her life support later that morning.
M's nurse that night was Mel, sorry, I don't know her last name, but with that fiery red hair, she's hard to miss. Mel and I spoke before I left to go pick my son up at the airport. With her experience and skills as a nurse, and her impeccable honesty, Mel let me know that things were worsening, and she didn't think M would last through the night. That honesty was a gift we can never repay. I picked my son up at the airport and brought them straight over to the hospital at 1 am. We spent an hour or so with M, he got to talk to her, and tell her he loved her. I'm pretty sure she was waiting for him because not one hour after we got back home I got the call from Mel saying she had passed. Mel's skills, honesty, and professionalism allowed my son to say a final goodbye to his mom, and for that, we will forever be grateful.
My thoughts have been with all of you often during these trying times. I can only imagine the things you are dealing with or will be dealing with. Hopefully, there will be some time between when the lockdown ends and I have to go back to work so I can come by and thank all of you in person, maybe with a stack of pizzas!
Again, let me just say one more time to all of you, thank you so, so much, you all made this difficult time so much easier for us, no amount of thanks is enough.
Thanks again and please, stay safe and healthy, I know we are just one family among many whose lives you have made a serious impact on. When I think about how many others you have helped the way you helped us, I can't help but not only tear up, but get angry that you are not getting the full support you need in these most trying times. Hang in there.