Stephanie is hands down the absolute best nurse I have ever had to pleasure of meeting- professionally and personally. The DAISY award was meant for nurses like Stephanie. Our son C has required a lot of medical care since even before he was born. I not only was seen twice a week with a high-risk pregnancy including him being IUGR, but we have continued to see MANY different doctors/nurses and even hospitals since then. He has seen Allergist, Endo, Genetics, Dietician & GI just to name a few. So, when I say she has been the best nurse we have worked with I truly mean that. And, I myself have been a nurse for almost a decade. Stephanie makes ME want to be a better nurse.

When it has come to caring for my child and advocating to find a diagnosis, I have always felt alone. I have never felt like any nurse was truly advocating for him until we met Stephanie. This has been one of the hardest years of our lives. I have fought SO hard to get a diagnosis for him, and when we finally did get a diagnosis and a treatment plan our excitement and hope were quickly shattered when meeting resistance from our insurance company. Stephanie went OUT of her way to help me fight insurance. She provided office notes, communicated directly with insurance, researched foundations to provide assistance to me- not only to appeal insurance but also to request financial assistance. I truly felt like Stephanie and I were on a team together fighting for what we both knew was the best treatment for my child.

C's medication, if not covered by insurance or financial assistance, could have been approximately five thousand dollars EVERY SINGLE MONTH until he hit puberty- and he is only 4 years old! This is a HUGE financial burden that we had no idea how we were going to afford. But, this medication is vital for our baby and we were determined to find a way. And so was Stephanie. We exhausted our appeals with our insurance company, and we were at the point where myself -and I'm sure our doctor and Stephanie were exhausted as well. And even then, I called her and asked if we could try one last time to find a way for his injections to get covered. A couple of days later she called me and said that she has typed up a LENGTHY appeal letter to the insurance company addressing each and every issue that they had and citing many reputable articles. I am sure this took her HOURS. I honestly cried when I read it. You could tell how much effort she put into it. Thankfully we were able, with Stephanie's help, to get C's injections paid for through financial assistance with the drug company themselves. She assisted me with that process and followed up frequently until we started them and felt comfortable. I can never express my gratitude enough for Stephanie. These injections will affect our son's entire life.

I want her to know what an amazing person and nurse she is and that I will forever be grateful. Stephanie, you are absolutely in the right profession. All of your patients are lucky to have you. You always made me feel like C was your only patient and I want you to know how thankful I am for ALL of your help!