Multidisciplinary ICU Team at University Medical Center of El Paso
December 2023
Multidisciplinary ICU Team at
University Medical Center of El Paso
ICU
University Medical Center of El Paso
El Paso
,
TX
United States
Steven Saenz, RN; Diana Lopez, RN; Fernanda Nevarez, RN; Carolina Urbina, RN; Hugo Acosta Gasson, RN; Matthew Contreras, RN; Ashley Marinussen, RRT
I will always be thankful for the men and women who dedicated their time and effort to save my daughter.
This is a recount of our experience with the men and women whose work and dedication saved my daughter’s life. I heard a quote one day while watching a movie that said, “To mend the broken and make the weak strong again”. I believe that is the mission these extraordinary human beings carry out every day as they walk through the doors of the hospital and head to the ICU. These silent heroes unknowingly put on the cape and go to battle against death itself. My daughter was hit by a car while riding her bike home after getting off work one night. Her injuries were life-threatening, and to top it off, she suffered a stroke because of the trauma that she had sustained. She was flown from the hospital in Carlsbad, New Mexico to UMC of El Paso where she spent the next 35 days in the ICU. I believe this was God’s will, perhaps to make us understand that life is fragile, but oh-so-precious.
As I walked through the hospital doors, I found my daughter lying in that bed and my heart sank. She was unconscious, intubated, with a ventilator breathing for her, and drains coming from just about every orifice in her body. She also had a bolt in her head to measure the ICP, and I felt a kind of desperation that I’d never felt in my life. I felt so helpless, all I could do was pray and cry as the nurses, surgeons, and everyone else who came into the room, assured us they would do their best to care for her. All I could do was trust in their words, and that providence would give them the guidance, knowledge, and skill to bring this to pass. Soon, not only were their skills and knowledge on full display but their kindness and empathy as well. Not for a day or two, but for the entire time that my daughter remained in the ICU. As I reflect on this, I feel that thank you would be an understatement; to say that I am forever in your debt is putting it mildly.
Starting with a male nurse who was there the first day she arrived. Steven Saenz was the first nurse that I met at this facility and he did such an extraordinary job that I thought other nurses would have a tough time filling his shoes. I spent the next two weeks by my daughter’s bedside every night; I saw my daughter required constant attention as many alarms would go off throughout the night, but Steven was on top of it. The next nurse was Diana Lopez, also an extraordinary person, kind and caring, not only for my daughter but concerned with my well-being as well as my daughter’s mom. She was likewise an extraordinary nurse. The next nurse to pick up the mantle would be would be Caroline. Although I do not know her last name she did such an extraordinary job, and in my mind, she is worthy of any award. After her, was Hugo (I do not know his last name either) but he was such an extraordinary person as well that any praise I could give him would not do him justice. He was attentive not only to my daughter’s needs but he would also offer words of encouragement and the occasional cup of coffee to make the night go by a little easier. Another person who was involved in my daughter’s care was Ashley. Ashley is a respiratory therapist, but also an extraordinary person as well. As I sat there looking at my daughter getting treatments seeing her ICP fluctuate from good to bad, to worse and back again, Ashley's calm and soothing voice and small conversations, somehow made the worries a little less and hope more abundant. Of course, they were not the only people involved in the care of my daughter, there was also an amazing team of surgeons whose names I did not get, but I want to recognize. They repaired my daughter’s left leg and her pelvis from severe injuries, an operation that lasted nearly 8.5 hours.
Nearly 28 days after my daughter arrived she is now able to eat and talk, although she has little to no movement on the left side of her body due to the stroke. We are hopeful for a recovery and thanks to this amazing group of people, she has a better chance to make a full recovery. She is only 17, so God willing, she is going to make a full recovery and be back to being the wonderful person she was meant to be. I will always be thankful for the men and women who dedicated their time and effort to save my daughter. Although if not for that terrible accident, I would have never met them. God works in mysterious ways and I can’t wait for him to show me what else is out there.
As I walked through the hospital doors, I found my daughter lying in that bed and my heart sank. She was unconscious, intubated, with a ventilator breathing for her, and drains coming from just about every orifice in her body. She also had a bolt in her head to measure the ICP, and I felt a kind of desperation that I’d never felt in my life. I felt so helpless, all I could do was pray and cry as the nurses, surgeons, and everyone else who came into the room, assured us they would do their best to care for her. All I could do was trust in their words, and that providence would give them the guidance, knowledge, and skill to bring this to pass. Soon, not only were their skills and knowledge on full display but their kindness and empathy as well. Not for a day or two, but for the entire time that my daughter remained in the ICU. As I reflect on this, I feel that thank you would be an understatement; to say that I am forever in your debt is putting it mildly.
Starting with a male nurse who was there the first day she arrived. Steven Saenz was the first nurse that I met at this facility and he did such an extraordinary job that I thought other nurses would have a tough time filling his shoes. I spent the next two weeks by my daughter’s bedside every night; I saw my daughter required constant attention as many alarms would go off throughout the night, but Steven was on top of it. The next nurse was Diana Lopez, also an extraordinary person, kind and caring, not only for my daughter but concerned with my well-being as well as my daughter’s mom. She was likewise an extraordinary nurse. The next nurse to pick up the mantle would be would be Caroline. Although I do not know her last name she did such an extraordinary job, and in my mind, she is worthy of any award. After her, was Hugo (I do not know his last name either) but he was such an extraordinary person as well that any praise I could give him would not do him justice. He was attentive not only to my daughter’s needs but he would also offer words of encouragement and the occasional cup of coffee to make the night go by a little easier. Another person who was involved in my daughter’s care was Ashley. Ashley is a respiratory therapist, but also an extraordinary person as well. As I sat there looking at my daughter getting treatments seeing her ICP fluctuate from good to bad, to worse and back again, Ashley's calm and soothing voice and small conversations, somehow made the worries a little less and hope more abundant. Of course, they were not the only people involved in the care of my daughter, there was also an amazing team of surgeons whose names I did not get, but I want to recognize. They repaired my daughter’s left leg and her pelvis from severe injuries, an operation that lasted nearly 8.5 hours.
Nearly 28 days after my daughter arrived she is now able to eat and talk, although she has little to no movement on the left side of her body due to the stroke. We are hopeful for a recovery and thanks to this amazing group of people, she has a better chance to make a full recovery. She is only 17, so God willing, she is going to make a full recovery and be back to being the wonderful person she was meant to be. I will always be thankful for the men and women who dedicated their time and effort to save my daughter. Although if not for that terrible accident, I would have never met them. God works in mysterious ways and I can’t wait for him to show me what else is out there.