Our son, M, was born on in the SDU and went right over to the CICU, due to his hypoplastic left heart syndrome. My husband and I met Carrie Kerney before our son's first surgery. We immediately knew what a great nurse she was, as she explained to us about M's first open surgery, told us how great the doctor was, answered all of our questions, and tried to ease our anxieties.
On the day of our son's surgery, Carrie was his nurse. Throughout the surgery, she made sure we stayed updated and told us exactly what was going on. Unfortunately, after the surgery, M faced some fluid complications and had to go to the cath lab. Not knowing what any of this meant, Carrie was always sure we knew and understood exactly what was going on. She stayed late that night after her shift was over until she knew our son was settled and we were okay. During our 5-week stay in the CICU, Carrie was often in charge of taking care of our son, and we were grateful. She always answered questions and made sure our M was receiving the best care.
We spent many long days in his pod with her, and we felt at ease whenever he was in her care. For the few months after we were discharged, my family often talked of her. As fate would have it, when we came back to CHOP for M's Glenn surgery, we found out that Carrie would be his nurse! Our family was thrilled, as we had often said in those days leading up to the procedure that we had so badly hoped that she would be his nurse.
As she walked us down the hall to the OR with M, many of our anxieties were immediately eased just knowing she would be taking care of him, not only that day but the whole weekend. Talking with her about our son was like catching up with an old friend. Carrie is an example of what an excellent nurse is. Her intelligence, demeanor, care, and sometimes feistiness, is exactly what all these children need. Our family feels blessed to have had Carrie take care of our son.