You are upset enough when you are told you have breast cancer. But you become even more upset when you have to have a bi-lateral mastectomy and reconstruction surgery. Major surgeries and major life changing experiences!

After my surgeries, I went to Women's Health for my recovery time. I had the great honor and pleasure of having the best nurses and nursing assistants in the world. Melissa Mattingly was the best. She is very kind, compassionate and caring. She answered all the questions that I had from the moment that I awoke from my surgery. She took great care of me. True Professional and the best at what she does.

What really stands out to me and why Melissa is deserving of this award is this: Unfortunately, I had to be readmitted to the hospital. I don't know if it was my emotions, my hormones, or just the fact I had to be readmitted but I had a morning of crying, crying, and more crying. I had been in the hospital for a couple of days and I just started crying for no reason. I couldn't help it. It just all hit me. The cancer, the surgeries, everything. And I cried and cried. Melissa sat on my bed, help my hand and just listened as I cried, talked, cried, talked. I know she had way more patients than me but at that time, she made me her only patient. She stayed with me till I was okay. She knew I was going home that day and I wanted to go home that day; she gave me great advice and gave me a hug and told me if I needed anything to call her.

Melissa didn't have to do any of this at all. She could have easily just come in, checked on me and left; but she didn't, she helped me through a difficult moment that I was having.

It is with extra care, extra compassion, extra everything that she gave me that is the reason she is deserving of any and all outstanding awards because she is truly an outstanding nurse.