Amanda is such an extraordinary nurse. She is filled with patience, compassion and love. I am a Chemo patient who ended up in Orthopedics due to an overflow in the Oncology Wing. Though I came in for an infected port, I experienced my most dreaded side effect of Chemo in Amanda's department because I had just had chemo 5 days prior. Not only was I in a lot of pain due to the infection but I went through so much emotional distress because I lost my hair in the hospital. I knew it was coming. I knew it was inevitable. I thought I was prepared for it. I was not. It felt humiliating to go through such a traumatic experience in a place other than the privacy of my own home. I cried often, and had such a long stay that I lost all of it.

Amanda was so comforting. Not only was she superb, skillful at her job, finding the best way of administering medications in the least painful way possible, trying to keep me as comfortable as possible and actually listening to my concerns and taking my opinion and knowledge of my own body into account. She also acted as a sort of friend and counselor for me. She listened when I needed to be heard. She conversed with me when I needed distraction. She uplifted me when I felt anxious and blue. She helped me become comfortable with the way I look now. She told me that no amount of hair loss will change how beautiful I am, or who I am inside. For the first time I felt ok.

I am very impressed at how prepared she is to deal with someone who is facing their own mortality like myself. She is one of the nurses who always made me feel like an equal and a part of the process.