My father was admitted to CCU and intubated. He has several chronic conditions, including Congestive Heart Failure, COPD, and Diabetes. He has a stainless steel mitral valve that requires Coumadin, and he came in with a severe pneumonia. Melanie was the first to greet us and make us feel welcome. To be honest the whole staff of the critical care unit was amazing from the doctors, to the nurses, to the porters, but i feel that Melanie was exceptional. She made it her personal goal to get my father back on his feet. He was intubated for three and a half weeks, and then he had a tracheostomy and required ventilation for another 2 weeks.

It was at this point that Melanie Badin truly began to shine. She recognized that he was not responding well to the sedation and needed to be upright to get his breathing better. She had 4 straight shifts with him, and he went through Mel's "bootcamp". She got him up and in a chair, got him to wiggle his toes, and respond to simple commands. She even got him to his feet! After weeks of inactivity, we saw signs that he was returning to us. He is now fully recovered, and I feel it is in no small part due to Melanie Badin's care, compassion, knowledge, and persistence. As I said, the whole staff at the CCU was incredible; it's just that Melanie Badin's extra effort with him made her exceptional.