Last January, M was diagnosed with stage III esophageal cancer. Following a 6 week regimen of chemotherapy and radiation, M was recommended for a transhiatal esophagectomy, a surgery which was performed in April. After this surgery, M was transported to floor 8B for a lengthy stay, where he received top-notch nursing care from all medical professionals involved. If it were possible, we would nominate all nurses on 8B for a DAISY award; every nurse was attentive, caring, gentle and simply wonderful. However, one nurse in particular stood out above the rest, and his name was Mike McQueen.

With his warm smile and kind eyes, Mike McQueen quickly formed a bond with all of us as M progressed through his recovery. As a totally blind individual, M faced many more obstacles after surgery then someone with eyesight. Having two chest tubes, a nasogastric tube, a catheter, a jejuenostomy tube, and numerous IV lines in his body post-surgery, not to mention all the electrical cabling required to power many of these devices, simply moving an arm or leg could cause M to pull on a tube or hose, or become tangled in some way. Every time Mike McQueen entered M's room, he took the time to straighten, unravel and make sense of every conduit in and around M's body, ensuring that M could remain as unencumbered as possible from this labyrinth of lines.

One night, after medical personnel had moved M from his chair back to his bed, someone forget to hand M the nurse call button. For a sighted individual, again, this would not likely have been a problem, but because M could not see the call button, and because all of his tubes and lines prevented him from physically searching for it, M was without the call button for quite some time. When Mike heard about this, he created a genius solution to this critical problem. Mike introduced M to the call buttons installed on each side of the hospital bed, taping a small block of gauze over the buttons, so that Marty could easily locate, identify and press one of those, should the corded call button go missing again.

Mike is not just a technically gifted nurse; he is amazingly compassionate toward his patients. M, an avid Cleveland Indians fan, would listen to every game while he was in the hospital. Mike, also an Indians fan, would come in and talk sports with M, and check the score of the game whenever possible. M became very comfortable around Mike, and, with such a loss of mobility- and frankly, the loss of dignity that comes with asking a stranger to assist you with such basic bodily functions as going to the bathroom- M was so very happy to have Mike's help and support on those long nights spent in the hospital.

Mike's caring and empathetic nature shined so brightly every time he walked into M's room. When Mike came on shift in the evening, we all knew that M would have a good night, because Mike would make sure of it. Heartbreakingly, M passed away in September after battling his cancer for 10 months.

We spent a great deal of time in Metro Health Medical Center in 2013, and nearly all of it was as good of an experience as a family can have, given the unspeakably horrible and often shocking circumstances of watching a love one succumb to cancer. Throughout this ordeal, more than any other individual we encountered, Mike was a true catalyst in making this experience more bearable, more humorous, and ultimately, more human. Thank You Mike, for being there when we were not, for giving M some much needed dignity and respect, and for making him comfortable when he was so very much in pain. Thank you for caring, for taking the time to explain to us what was going on, and for your constant true concern for M and for all of us.

We hope that this nomination for the DAISY award can express to you our appreciation and gratitude for all you did for Marty, and it is our sincere hope that you win this award- we believe you certainly deserve it.