I would like to thank your nursing staff in the Telemetry section of the Palmdale Regional Hospital. My wife was taken to the emergency room for complications from chemotherapy treatment. She was transferred to the Telemetry Department the following day. She had been battling breast cancer since 2006 with numerous surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. In the last six months she made numerous trips to the hospital for the complication of the continual treatments and therapies required to control the cancer that had spread throughout her body. She was tired and weak from these treatments and required 24 hours assistance to do even the smallest task.

The nurses and staff in the Telemetry Department from the first day she arrived to the last day she was released two weeks later to Hospice Care far exceeded my expectations. The staff showed exemplary compassion and care for her as a wife/mother and not just a patient. The two that made the most impact on us were Sharon & Donna, they went above and beyond the standard care that is given.

They took the time to ensure that we understood what was being done and why it was important to my wife's care. Even though they had other patients they explained the correlation of her blood work to her symptoms. Example: when my wife was nauseated and confused they explained that her sodium was low (123) and when she was starting to retain water that her albumin was 1.9 and albumin is what holds the water in the blood vessels and elevating the sodium/albumin would help eleviate these side effects. They understood the enormous pain she was in from the cancer and ensured that she received her pain medications on time.

Sharon & Donna would always ask me if I needed anything, have I been eating and getting enough sleep? that it was important for me to take care of myself so when my wife went home I was prepared to care for her. That if I need assistance with the stress of caring for my wife or needed to talk to a counselor that the hospital provided these programs to assist me. When the Doctor informed us that the cancer was now terminal the compassion and care they showed us was from the heart.

My wife passed away at home with her family. I will always be grateful to Sharon, Donna, the entire nursing staff and CNA's that attended to our needs and ensured that she was treated with dignity and respect as a mother/wife with the best treatment/care available in her last days with us.