Mom just recently had a knee replacement with Dr. B. We had no idea how much preparation and work had to be done before these types of surgeries happen. Staci has been a great help since day 1 when we found out mom needed to get this done. She started getting everything ready for mom, setting appointments, letting us know, what need it to be done. She guided me on everything.
Staci knew right away how stressed and overwhelmed mom and I were feeling. She asked mom and me to "Breath, it's going to be ok." She took her time and explained every little detail to us; this appointment became super long, as mom is Spanish speaking only. Staci was very sweet to mom, and made eye contact with her through the appointment, as I was translating and explaining in the back.
Through this whole process of setting up new appointments and going to appointment after appointment and having tests, Staci was a great support to me, as I am the one that handles mom's appointments. She heard about my frustrations, and how overwhelmed I felt at times, besides being a nurse, she also developed a couple of roles, she became a friend, counselor, daughter, investigator... yes she investigated if I had a question, and she didn't have the answer at the moment; she will always call me back.
Every time mom was done with one of her appointments, Staci said, "We are almost there, hanged in there." After mom's surgery was done, Staci came to mom's room with Dr. B, and gave mom a big smile, and said, "You did it!" This meant a lot for mom, she felt the connection with Staci, she felt someone really care, and has been on her side from beginning to end, outside of her family circle.
After mom got discharged from the hospital, all she could talk about was how Staci helped for all of these to happen, and how Staci was proud of her, for going through all these. Most of all, mom was very thankful for the support my sister and I had from Staci, as this was also stressful for the two of us. Even though the language was a barrier for mom, somehow, Staci made mom feel, valuable, important, and well taken care of.
I am very grateful we had Staci on our side through all these; thank you to all the nurses in surgery, for being super nice to mom. It is really scary and overwhelming for someone not being able to communicate in English and go through this; I know mom was. Everyone made her feel so comfortable and special, she felt the care she got from everyone at MMC was amazing.
Once again thank you, Staci Musich, for being a wonderful Nurse, you do an amazing job!