Ending up in the hospital and having two heart procedures performed was the last thing we expected when we came to Rochester for an appointment. At the end of our initial consultation, my Mayo Clinic doctor ordered an ECG for the team to review when consulting on my case. During my ECG, my husband went to warm up the vehicle as we were planning to go home shortly. My daughter was in the waiting room since I had these many times before and it only takes a few minutes. All of a sudden, a lot of people were coming in and out asking me how I felt. The next thing I know they are telling me that they called an ambulance and were taking me to the emergency room. I have a genetic heart disorder (Long QT-3), and I have previously lost my 7-year-old son and 24-year-old daughter from Long QT-3. All of a sudden, my husband, daughter and I are hearing I am having runs of ventricular tachycardia and being hospitalized. I was immediately admitted into the hospital and the whirlwind began. We had no medicine, no change of clothes, no toiletries and home was 2 1/2 hours away.

As we sat in the hospital room with a look of bewilderment on our faces, Nurse Tara, our nurse for the evening, came in with an infectious smile on her face and a heart of gold. She listened to our story and told us not to worry and that she could get us everything we needed. Shortly thereafter, Tara returned with a gift basket of toiletries for my husband, and a water cup with his name on it because he needs to drink a lot of water (he is a kidney transplant recipient at Mayo). She came and checked on us numerous times to just talk and reassure us. I have a 7-year-old granddaughter whom I have babysat for since she was a baby, and she was distraught. Her eyes were filled with fear, and she kept sitting on everyone’s lap, asking if her grandma was going to be okay. During our conversations, I told Tara about E’s fears. One evening, Tara walked through the door and saw a little girl. When Tara found out it was E, she went over to her with that reassuring smile and calm demeanor and started a conversation with her. Tara assured E that her grandma was going to be just fine and that she had wonderful doctors. That was the first time we saw this little girl smile in days. All of the nurses at the hospital were nice and gave me wonderful care, but there was just something “very special” about Tara. She felt like our guardian angel.