Recently, my husband went into cardiac arrest. I gave him CPR for 10 minutes until the ambulance arrived and shocked him back to life. He was taken to Florida Hospital in Sebring, FL. There his arteries were found to be severely clogged. They put him under heavy sedation and sent his body into hyperthermia to try to preserve brain function. Then they took him off sedation to see if he had brain function before they would consider heart surgery. He came to but his short-term memory was gone. He had to be told several times a day what happened, was happening, and where he was. That same night, he was transferred to Winter Haven Hospital. He spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the Cardiovascular Unit. Friday morning at 5:00 AM he was taken to surgery. A 3-bypass turned into a 5-bypass surgery. He came out of it well. From there he went to Cardiac ICU which is where this lovely nurse, Taylor Nix, came into our life.
This young lady went above and beyond to take care of my husband. It wasn't the physical care as much as it was the mental and emotional. When she came on duty, I explained how his memory was, just as I had done with everyone since he'd awakened the first time. Taylor was so patient and kind. She talked to him all night. She told him everything that he'd been through and eased his mind tremendously. This was the first night I actually got to rest for 6 hours since this occurred a week ago, tomorrow. It's the first time I wasn't awakened by him being frantic because he was scared.
At 4:00 AM this morning, Taylor came into the waiting room to get me to go in and see him. He was so at peace and at ease. He told me it's because his nurse was so good at her job…that she actually talked to him and explained things to him.
I hope she knows how great that type of humanity is in this environment. Everyone involved has been great. Taylor is just so much more. She had him smiling and happy (the morning after surgery.) The other nurse said that was how Taylor is. She just gets involved. She is a true inspiration…a ray of sunshine in dark times.
God bless His Angel. That's what she was to us.