Melissa Kreuger normally works on 14 East but by the grace of God was covering on 14 West recently. I was staying with my uncle from his admit from the ER. He had an endoscopy in which they found he needed a dilation near the duodenum to allow food to pass through as the area was too tight to allow the food to digest and as such cause severe burns in the esophagus from all the acid coming back up. He was being monitored over the next few days and I was uncomfortable with some of the blood pressures and HR going up with just sitting in bed. The doctor and nurses told me it was because he was dehydrated, and they were monitoring it. After 7 bags of IV fluids, I just was having a hard time wrapping my head around how he could still be dehydrated, and nobody was explaining it clearly. I do not work in the medical field and do not claim to know it all, but I am a little more knowledgeable than the average person due to all of the medical issues I have gone through with family so I asked for a cardiology consult three separate times and was brushed off three separate times with the "we are monitoring things" explanation. He has some severe blockages in his heart and other arteries, so I was definitely concerned.
I had a urology appointment for myself in the Professional Office Building. I left the hospital at around 8:30 AM and came back at about 10:30 AM. When I got back he had been discharged. I called in the nurse (Melissa) and just explained to her I was a little concerned going home because I had asked for a cardiology consult to figure out his blood pressures and high heart rate and had been brushed off. She said she would contact the doctor but first wanted to do an ortho-static test. Well, he failed MISERABLY didn't even make it to the standing portion of the testing because his blood pressure dropped so low Melissa immediately called the doctor and got him back into bed.
Things escalated quickly that day and Melissa never left his side while his condition turned towards the critical phase. She took swift action when needed and watched him like a hawk. We ended up being transferred to the ICU and found out he had a major GI bleed. I have no doubt in my mind that she saved his life, if Melissa had not listened to my concerns and taken action on them when everyone else dismissed it, the outcome would have been very different. He is a stubborn old guy and would not have returned to the hospital although feeling awful, and most certainly would have died. She is our family's guardian angel and in my opinion went above and beyond her duties to ensure he was ok. She was our light during a very dark day. Thank you doesn't seem like enough in this situation.