I had emergency surgery to place a PD dialysis port in my abdomen for dialysis. I am 34. Because of this surgery I experienced extreme blood loss and required a blood transfusion. To complicate matters, I am a transgender man and I have had horrible experiences with medical facilities in the past. This time was different and it was largely because of Marcel, who was one of my main nurses. I disclosed my transgender status to her and she made every effort to provide me with trans-competent care. This meant that she used the appropriate terms, asked me important questions and made sure that I felt safe and validated.
I have a horrible needle phobia and Marcel made sure that whenever I needed to have blood taken that I could put numbing cream on the area and be given time. This greatly reduced my anxiety and increased my confidence in the hospital. When it came time to have my first dialysis treatment (two days after surgery) I was very nervous, nearly having a panic attack. Marcel took a good deal of time to sit with me and help me relax. She shared stories of her life and tried to get me to laugh. This is what I needed. I needed someone to make a personal connection with me to let me know that it was going to be okay and Marcel did that.
Finally, my wife had been sleeping in a chair beside my bed for days and when Marcel saw this she immediately found my wife an adequate place to sleep. I can't stress enough how much Marcel's caring and compassionate personality helped my family and me during such a challenging time. More importantly, I think Marcel needs to be recognized for excellent care of transgender patients. So much has been publicized about how horribly transgender people are often treated in medical facilities that we need some positive representation of what competent care and compassion looks like.