On October 9th I had surgery for a rare brain nerve disorder. I spent 7 days in ICU before going home. When the neurosurgeon came to visit the first time, a nurse practitioner by the name of Cindy Sheaffer was with him. When he finished the exam, Cindy asked if there was anything I wanted or needed. We expressed that the food I was getting was not right and she had that changed. My wife was staying with me during the day and she made sure that there was a chair for her, she was very caring and attentive to my needs. Every time she came to my room after that she was very compassionate about how things were going, if I was functioning as well as possible for the moment and if there was anything she could do.
A couple days before discharge I mentioned that sleep was near impossible accept for the drug induced and that was not good sleep, she agreed that sleep was necessary for good healing. Two days later as I showed better functioning, she was instrumental in getting me released to go home and get some sleep to continue the healing from there.
Within a couple of days of being home we discovered that I was not getting enough nourishment because of my swallowing issues. I called Cindy and asked about having a feeding tube to help me get sustenance for a while. She was very nice and had me come back in, I told her I did not have transportation and could I go ahead if I wanted. Being very responsive to my new situation she had the new nutrition product sent to my house right away.
Since that time, because of her vast knowledge, she has helped me make intelligent decisions about what drugs to take and not to take to help me get better sleep, to have less pain, etc. She made sure the medication I needed refilled were at the pharmacy pick-up window for my wife to get, or mailed to out to me.
At an office visit a short time later, I asked about seeing the ENT people about my throat, she got me an appointment with them. I asked about seeing if the audiology people might be able to make a form fitting ear plug and she got me an appointment with them. I have looked forward to all office visits because she cares so much and has gone above and beyond her duties to be sure that I'm cared for and moving forward in my recovery.
Cindy has been the most reassuring and caring nurse I have ever had!