Thank you for the opportunity to bring some attention to one particular person, even though the truth is, everyone who was involved in "saving me" from my own stupidity, from the emergency room to the ICU to the follow up crew deserves and gets all of my sincerest affection and appreciation for the unbelievable level of skill, talent, professionalism and kindness and respect that I have ever experienced.
I was at an extremely low point both physically and mentally when I went to the Portland VA Emergency Department and reported that I thought I was in danger of committing accidental suicide from taking too much aspirin. I was stunned by how quickly I was enfolded into the system and overwhelmed by the attention and care. Every single person involved was "at work" and focused on getting answers.
After being assessed in the Emergency area, I was finally moved to the ICU for observation. The day shift began setting me up while the night shift was getting ready to take over. That's where Liliana comes in. Not only did she demonstrate the definition of "unflagging attention to detail", she completely put me at ease with her concentration on what had to be done, now, next, all the while maintaining an air of goodwill without ever straying into false cheeriness. I'm a bit sensitive to that.
Although by now I knew I was in good hands, I was still stressed about my situation. When I am stressed, I make jokes. One of the ways Liliana kept me grounded all night was to keep laughing at my jokes while still doing vile things to me. Her constant air of professionalism, confidence, and goodwill, which I was not able to see through, at all, ever, (and I tried), gave me all the confidence I needed to feel that if I could be fixed, I would be.
The overall experience is now a very sentimental story for me to recount. Liliana made it a personal experience.