I wanted to extend my deep appreciation for the care that my mother had in her last days. She was a patient during COVID when there were no visitors allowed. She was 96-years-old and her health declined quickly but she was alert and knew what was going on. The nurse assigned to her was Tracy Smaron, RN and she was AMAZING. I know that she was not only taking care of my mother but boy it seemed that she way. She was so nice to our family on the phone, keeping us updated every two hours. She explained the dying process to me, and I felt that my mom could not be in any place better in her last days. Tracy took care of her for three days and I was so comforted by that. Tracy educated me on her medication, the side effects, and what she was giving her to make her comfortable. She educated me on the reason for no visitors due to COVID. I was going through cancer myself and she talked to me about my lung cancer and that I needed to take care of myself while they were caring for my mother.
It's taken me a while to sit and write this letter due to the grief process of losing her. Tracy told me that she had been a nurse for 34 years and that she loved being a nurse and that she would take excellent care of my mother, and that comforted me so much. You don't see many caring people like this anymore, especially during such terrible times. She went above and beyond and even sent me three books in the mail about death and dying and aftercare grief. That's what I have hung on to during these last months.
During one of our talks, Tracy told me about the butterfly that was on my mother's door - something I never got to see in person. She explained to me that she was educating me on the phone just like she would educate me if I was in the room with her. That butterfly was in the package she sent with the books - and I will cherish it FOREVER. I'm in my last stages of lung cancer now and I just pray that I can have a nurse like Tracy.