I know we only spoke briefly on the phone once, but I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and thank you for the care you took of my grandfather. I am an intensive care nurse at another facility where I have been caring for COVID-positive patients since March. I'm sure that we have many similar experiences when it comes to witnessing this awful disease firsthand. Watching my grandfather suffer from dementia for the past several years was painful enough but being separated from him for close to a year only to lose him to this virus has been nearly unbearable. The main comfort that my family and I have been able to hold onto was the exceptional care he received at Moses Cone, particularly from you on the day that he passed. My aunt told me how patient and kind you were with her and my cousin, as well as your attention to detail in keeping my grandfather comfortable at the end of his life. Knowing he died peacefully brings me more relief than words can convey.
I shared with my aunt that I was unsure how I would be able to go back to caring for patients with COVID after losing my grandfather. Her response was "M, you have the chance to be somebody else's Josh." I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you and I have experienced a similar level of devastation this year. I hope that by sharing this with you I can instill a stronger sense that what you do matters, even when your patients don't make it. I hope you may find peace with the grief this year has brought and the strength to keep on going.