My son is autistic. During the middle of the Coronavirus Pandemic, he stopped eating and lost a dangerous amount of weight. He had to be hospitalized and part of his stay involved a surgical procedure to install a feeding tube to help him get adequate nutrition. He is terrified of medical procedures and he does not want me to leave his side, he finds it comforting when I hold his hand and he can squeeze my fingers if he is in pain. I could not be with him in the room as he was prepped for surgery. He was very frightened and said he needed his mom's hand to hold, (I am crying as I write this)

Nurse Yen Lu was his anesthesia nurse and told him that she would hold his hand to comfort him. She took him back up to his room and he was groggy from anesthesia, she said goodbye and he said, “You were the closest thing I had to my mom.” Everyone at this hospital is working so damn hard, in the midst of this scary pandemic, and in the middle of it all the nurses are still taking the time and care to hold the hands of frightened teenagers with special needs, they are there to be a parent's comforting hand when that parent can’t be there themselves.

I am so grateful that Nurse Yen was there to hold my son's hand. It’s such a seemingly small thing, a moment likely to be lost in the fog of anesthesia for my son, but to this mom, it is everything. And I will always remember it with deep (and tearful) gratitude. Not only did my son get the skilled medical care he needed to sustain his life, but he also got the emotional care he needed to sustain his being. Thank You!