My mom was a patient of Jeff Hermandek, "Tall Jeff", during her last days of her life. When mom entered MICCU, she was very scared and was having an extremely difficult time breathing along with congestive heart failure. Jeff was her nurse for the next two days and for her last day. He was so gentle and kind to mom and very professional. On that first day, one of my sisters saw him just holding mom's hand to reassure her.

He listened to her and to us, her five daughters. We felt that he was an advocate for us, as well as mom. He listened to every doctor's assessment and was there after doctors left to help explain to us and to mom what was happening. He joked that he could "talk trach" so communication with mom was made easier. Mom loved to laugh and as we gently joked around with mom, he did, too. You could see mom was enjoying his attention. He spoke directly to her with respect. We could see that mom trusted him. She was still very anxious, but with his help she calmed down alot.

When mom made her last decisions about the end of her life, we knew she was going to die. Mom and the rest of my family were truly grateful that Jeff was to be her nurse on her last day. We knew that Jeff would do his best to make her transition easy and peaceful. It was difficult for all of us, but Jeff helped us all.

The nurses in MISSU have so many nursing decisions for patients in life and death situations, and he did what he needed to do in a calm and professional way. I say that God sent mom some "ANGELS" to help her during her last days. The most important "ANGEL" was Jeff. We will always remember the compassion and kindness that Jeff showed to our family. Advocate Christ Medical Center should be very proud of him.