I want to recognize Melissa Moss for her extraordinary compassion and care which exemplifies the very meaning of being a nurse. This amazing nurse worked with her team to give my husband the ability to achieve his dying wish, which was to live through the Christmas holidays for his three young daughters. He feared that his death would be associated with the season of Christmas in the eyes of his daughters.

He was healthy and full of life, a husband, father, son, and friend, when he was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of germ cell cancer. We remained hopeful and endured his treatment plan, scans, tests, and two rounds of chemotherapy only to find that on December 20th that it had progressed and there was nothing more that they could do. His prognosis was days at this time due to the inability to maintain healthy blood levels. His strength and motivation to survive through the holidays was a moving force, he had made it known that he would be around for Christmas. The best plan was to send him home on hospice with blood transfusions through Christmas to help make this goal possible. We later found out that no hospice agencies could complete blood transfusions and that his only option was to remain hospitalized until Christmas where he could then return home to live the remainder of his days.

Melissa arranged a plan with hospice to transfuse over the week and weekend before Christmas. Melissa helped to make this plan work out here at Sauk Prairie Hospital. Thanks to this team, led by Melissa Moss, he was able to see his large family, spend Christmas with his daughters and obtain his final wish.