There is something to be said for bedside manner. Certain things are not teachable. Paula exemplifies professionalism with heart.
Having a child who is going through treatment for cancer can be overwhelming, to say the least. I speak for myself when I say your brain is in constant overdrive, especially in the beginning. The second-guessing, overreacting and the should haves, would haves and could haves are sometimes mind-boggling.
There was a time that I had given my son the wrong dosing of a medication. I called the oncologist after hours and was advised how to proceed. The next day, while in clinic, sitting watching the chemo drip into my son's veins and praying that this course of treatment was the right one for him, I decided to take a look at his meds that I was giving at home. Low and behold, I noticed that I was giving 1 pill but the bottle read to give him 3 1/2 per dosage. I ran to the nurses' station and frantically asked Paula what was the correct dosage and sure enough, I did not give the correct amount.
It literally broke me mentally and physically that I messed up something so vital. Paula's halo appeared over her head and she assured me that we could correct my mistake. I was crying the ugly cry, the kind you save for the shower when no one is watching. I questioned if I was capable of taking care of my child, my last born. I felt like a failure. Paula took full control, found a pill dispenser and made up my son's dosages from that point on. That was the easy part. What she also did was talk me off my cliff and assured me that I was fully capable of taking care of my son and I was not this mistake. She gave me the confidence to walk out of clinic and carry on as a parent of a child with cancer. My shoulders broadened that day, and I knew what Paula knew and showed me by believing in me. That we together "Got This." I love her for that.