Meredith Human
February 2020
Meredith
Human
,
BSN, RN
PICU
Nemours Children's Hospital
Orlando
,
FL
United States
Meredith will forever be a part of our journey to recovery and greatly missed.
In August of this year, we heard something that would be difficult for any parent to hear "your child has cancer". K was diagnosed with Wilms tumor in both kidneys. We were devastated. After weeks of chemo, it was time for the next phase, surgery. Following hours of waiting for her to come out of surgery, we were informed that things did not go as we hoped. We were heartbroken but knew that the doctors had done their best. Mentally and emotionally exhausted, the first day of PICU was a blur, trying to cope with tubes and other things coming from various parts of her body.
After fighting to fall asleep, I woke up to see the most hopefully pleasant smile. It was Meredith being updated by the night nurse. She immediately introduced herself to me and K. I instantly felt at ease. She filled the room with humor and positivity her entire shift. She always validated our concerns and never made us feel as though we were inconveniencing her with our questions and the need for assistance.
Before Meredith's arrival, K didn't want to talk or move, she would just cry (the complete opposite of her usual playful and talkative self). The doctors stressed to us how important it was for her to try to sit up due to the fluid in her lungs. Somehow, Meredith earned K's trust, mine too) and told her to hug her neck as she proceeded to move her to the side of the bed. It was a struggle for K to push past the pain but she trusted Meredith enough to hold on and follow her instructions. I was so pleasantly surprised.
At the end of the shift, we were sad to see her leave, but to our surprise, she was our nurse the following day. She was able to get K to sit in her chair for several hours to do arts and crafts. We were blessed to have been given such a caring funny and compassionate nurse. She will forever be a part of our journey to recovery and greatly missed. One of my favorite shows is Grey's Anatomy the star character is a doctor named Meredith Grey. I now tell everyone that we had our own Meredith "Grey" a nurse in the Nemours Children's Hospital PICU.
After fighting to fall asleep, I woke up to see the most hopefully pleasant smile. It was Meredith being updated by the night nurse. She immediately introduced herself to me and K. I instantly felt at ease. She filled the room with humor and positivity her entire shift. She always validated our concerns and never made us feel as though we were inconveniencing her with our questions and the need for assistance.
Before Meredith's arrival, K didn't want to talk or move, she would just cry (the complete opposite of her usual playful and talkative self). The doctors stressed to us how important it was for her to try to sit up due to the fluid in her lungs. Somehow, Meredith earned K's trust, mine too) and told her to hug her neck as she proceeded to move her to the side of the bed. It was a struggle for K to push past the pain but she trusted Meredith enough to hold on and follow her instructions. I was so pleasantly surprised.
At the end of the shift, we were sad to see her leave, but to our surprise, she was our nurse the following day. She was able to get K to sit in her chair for several hours to do arts and crafts. We were blessed to have been given such a caring funny and compassionate nurse. She will forever be a part of our journey to recovery and greatly missed. One of my favorite shows is Grey's Anatomy the star character is a doctor named Meredith Grey. I now tell everyone that we had our own Meredith "Grey" a nurse in the Nemours Children's Hospital PICU.