May 2017
Valarie
LaSala
,
RN, BSN
ICU
John T. Mather Memorial Hospital
Port Jefferson
,
NY
United States
Our mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. As you can imagine, this destroyed our family.
The day she was diagnosed, she was admitted to 3North for 4 days, where Val was her nurse for a couple days. Even though they had a separate work relationship, when Val was taking care of our Mom, she was only her nurse and a very professional one at that. After being discharged, our Mother started chemotherapy. After completing 8 rounds of chemo, she was admitted into ICU for pneumonia.
She was a patient in ICU for about 3 ½ weeks. In the course of the 3 ½ weeks, our Mom was put on a ventilator 3 times. Val was our Mom's nurse the day she was taken off the ventilator the second time. She was right by our Mom's side the whole day, encouraging her and making her as comfortable as possible. I will never forget sitting with my Mom when Val would walk in the room and seeing my mom's eyes light up as if her own family was walking in the room. Our Mom had a very distinct "eye roll" and on the days she was feeling more like herself, Val even got it!
The ICU room and lounge became my whole family's second home for those weeks and we can only imagine the inconvenience that this caused for the nurse's day to day routine, but not one nurse ever made us feel like we were in the way or a bother to them. It was truly amazing to see the care that was given to our Mom and we will never forget that.
Unfortunately, our Mom passed after finding out that the cancer spread to her left side. The day our family found this out and was faced with the reality of what was to come, we all basically collapsed and our minds went blank. Val was off that day, but within an hour we saw the elevator open and it was Val coming to be with us. She wanted to make sure she was able to see our Mom that night. She also wanted to make sure our whole family understood everything that was happening and she wanted to be there to answer any questions that we had. Even though nothing could change how horrible that day will always be, it was a relief to have Val there with us, to talk to each one of us and know how much our Mom truly meant to her.
While she was there, the care she received was nothing less than outstanding. The kindness and compassion of each nurse were so remarkable. Val was one nurse that our Mom had a special bond with and we would like to recognize her for that.
The day she was diagnosed, she was admitted to 3North for 4 days, where Val was her nurse for a couple days. Even though they had a separate work relationship, when Val was taking care of our Mom, she was only her nurse and a very professional one at that. After being discharged, our Mother started chemotherapy. After completing 8 rounds of chemo, she was admitted into ICU for pneumonia.
She was a patient in ICU for about 3 ½ weeks. In the course of the 3 ½ weeks, our Mom was put on a ventilator 3 times. Val was our Mom's nurse the day she was taken off the ventilator the second time. She was right by our Mom's side the whole day, encouraging her and making her as comfortable as possible. I will never forget sitting with my Mom when Val would walk in the room and seeing my mom's eyes light up as if her own family was walking in the room. Our Mom had a very distinct "eye roll" and on the days she was feeling more like herself, Val even got it!
The ICU room and lounge became my whole family's second home for those weeks and we can only imagine the inconvenience that this caused for the nurse's day to day routine, but not one nurse ever made us feel like we were in the way or a bother to them. It was truly amazing to see the care that was given to our Mom and we will never forget that.
Unfortunately, our Mom passed after finding out that the cancer spread to her left side. The day our family found this out and was faced with the reality of what was to come, we all basically collapsed and our minds went blank. Val was off that day, but within an hour we saw the elevator open and it was Val coming to be with us. She wanted to make sure she was able to see our Mom that night. She also wanted to make sure our whole family understood everything that was happening and she wanted to be there to answer any questions that we had. Even though nothing could change how horrible that day will always be, it was a relief to have Val there with us, to talk to each one of us and know how much our Mom truly meant to her.
While she was there, the care she received was nothing less than outstanding. The kindness and compassion of each nurse were so remarkable. Val was one nurse that our Mom had a special bond with and we would like to recognize her for that.