I was admitted to the hospital after a stint in the ER in preparation for a urinary stent for 8mm and 6mm kidney stones the next morning and they wanted to keep my pain at bay. Once I had the stent there was significant pain prior to Laser Lithotripsy and removing the stones through the ureteroscope. Some of the fragments at 4mm and 3mm passed over a week later. Somehow during the time after that last procedure my bowels stopped working, no tones, nothing. I blew up like Violet in the Chocolate Factory. There seemed to be confusion about what was causing the ileus. There were a number of nurses on multiple shifts that were very professional and empathetic, and I feel blessed that I had the care I did at Overlake.
I very well may not have been lucid enough to understand the prior week but my patient advocate, my wife, was equally impressed and pleased. Several procedures and ideas regarding some blood tests were key, in our opinion, to moving toward a care team where the RN that was overseeing my care combined with the patient and family helped drive a slightly more aggressive plan. Lyn did not advocate one procedure over another as she was very respectful that the doctors lead that. However, Lyn brought a level of compassion and empathy that sometimes in a busy healthcare environment can get lost. She was able to bring her nursing professionalism into a stressful, unsure and vulnerable time for me and my family. She had a calming presence that made all the uncertainty fade enough that we could focus on the medical facts and decisions that needed to be made.
I've had the misfortune to be in the hospital numerous times. This dynamic between nurse Lyn McSharry and me and my family has eclipsed anything I've encountered. She is impressive.