This story is about my mother being admitted to this prestigious and glorious 4 west telemetry unit in Kaiser Woodland Hills. My mother just turned 80 and has spent half of her life nurturing my father who suffered the debilitating symptoms caused by Parkinsons disease. The thought of her being admitted in a hospital was her worst nightmare. My mother spent all her strengths dedicating her remaining years in taking care of my father, now she needed help herself. As their adopted daughter, I truly admire and respect my mother's unselfish devotions.

Then the unthinkable happened. It was while I was living out of state, I decided to come home to visit her. I was so happy to see her. I realized how different she looked from what I remembered. She had health problems of her own, but she never wanted to make me worry about her because she always stated she never wanted to be a burden to me. She had shed lots of weight, actually too much! She also looked generally tired and often times she'd have to stop to catch her breath. A friend of hers from church told me that she has been having dizzy spells during worship services, but when asked if she could help her in any way, my mother pleaded that she was fine. Mother often told me, I worry too much about her and that I was over reacting about the whole situation. But looking past her proud gaze I could sense that something was wrong, my mother knew it too, but denied the fact.

I insisted that I take her to the doctor immediately. Shortly after seeing the doctor, we were advised that she should be admitted to the hospital right away, because her blood work was abnormal. She was severely anemic and I was told that after repeated blood works, my mother had a hemoglobin of 5, far below normal. I thought this trip was just going to be a simple one day admission, but it turned out to be the beginning of a bitter sweet journey that is worth telling.

When my mother was in the ER for hours waiting for a bed to open up, I kept hearing that she will be going to 4 west, that she's lucky, 4 west was the best! 4 west was the most reassuring word that I heard in the ER. I came to know a very special person there in 4 west, my mother's nurse, Felin Gebert. Since the beginning, she had demonstrated exemplary professional skills and caring bedside manners.

Felin was already waiting for us at the door when we arrived. She warmly introduced herself, her role, and the expectation of this particular unit she was in. She tirelessly explained all the doctor's orders and the reasons behind those orders. My mother at that time was attached to a bunch of wires to monitor her heart and even more wires to monitor her oxygen and vital signs. Phlebotomists came one after the other to obtain blood samples. Felin made sure that ice packs were applied afterwards to make her feel better. My mother had never been in a hospital before as a patient. She looked scared, and the look in her eyes confirmed her apprehension that she did not want to be in this place. But having this nurse has put my mother's worries to rest by giving her reassurances and allowing her caring touch to comfort her every step of the way through this frightening experience.

Felin made her rounds frequently to find out if we needed anything, if my mother was comfortable, if I was comfortable and simple things like offering extra pillows or blankets, or making sure the call button was right beside her so my mother can watch her favorite show in the morning. One time she even brought playing cards from home and played Gin rummy with my mother, she did things in her own special ways to keep my mother off her worries and to give her company. In other words, her acts of compassion to my mother since we met her have not wavered a bit.

During the hospital stay, my mother has had repeated blood and platelet transfusions, one after the other. Felin always made sure that we understood the purpose behind those treatments, helping to reassure us and to release any worries that we may have. She constantly monitored her vital signs and always made sure that my mother didn't get any negative reactions from blood transfusions. In one frightening situation, my mother had to have a lumbar puncture for bone marrow biopsy, and my mother was scared to death. But Felin was at her side during the entire procedure making sure that my mother was comfortable and held my mother's hand at all times. Then after the procedure, she always monitored my mother's condition, checking the punctured site, her vital signs and most of all assessing her pain.

One morning, my mother needed to go down for a procedure but Felin has noticed that mother didn't look stable, she did her quick assessment, only to see that her blood pressure is very low 85/50, and her oxygen saturation was at 88% on 2 liters. She put her to trendelenburg position to help raise the blood pressure, then immediately notified the attending doctor who responded quickly. Minutes later intravenous fluids were infusing and more tests are being done at bedside. My mother felt a little better afterwards because this nurse had given us updates and reassurances of what's going on.

Then the sad news the doctor told her the tests revealed were consistent with probable metastatic disease. It broke my heart into pieces, my mother broke down. She asked me, what am I going to do now?? Without any word said, Felin just simply gave me a long tight embrace then held my mother's hands in silence. No words needed to be spoken, this nurse's emotions was more than mere words. She might be a stranger to my mother but the way she treated us is like a family, her compassion is so empowering. She then called for a social worker for emotional support for us.

The rest of this story is about the journey of my mother's imminent passing.

Felin has shown her exceptional support and professionalism during those rough times. She has shown her great empathy by taking care of my mom's needs with warm, professionalism and dignity. Her expertise and her human touch of compassion has comforted everyone. She is a remarkable nurse and a sensitive human being. My mother and I had been blessed to be a recipient of it all and I'm sure Kaiser is proud and lucky to have someone like her.