On Sunday I was admitted to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. I had been struggling with severe pain in my upper right leg following a fall for two weeks. I refused to continue to walk around in debilitating pain when I knew that it was not my sciatic nerve. I decided to have my husband bring me to Silver Cross Hospital's emergency room. The moment I walked in and explained my symptoms, the doctor knew right away, “It’s her hip!“ They then did an x-ray of my hip and sure enough, the femoral neck was fractured. I was devastated but also so relieved to have finally found the reason for my pain. They were going to admit me but unfortunately, due to Covid precautions, my husband was not allowed to come with me at that hour of the night. I was all alone. I was scared. “Did someone mention surgery?” I have no medical history other than birthing my three beautiful children. I am on no prescription medications and I have never had anything more than a migraine. They wheeled me up to my room and I remember I couldn’t even see through my tears. My hands were shaking and the pain was trembling from my head to my toes.

The only thing I could make out was a tall blonde and the first words out of her mouth were “Hi L! My name is Jackie and the first thing I want to say is I am so sorry that this is happening to you. I promise I’m going to take great care of you. You’re going to be okay.“ From that moment on my tears subsided. Jackie never left my side that night. In fact, the moment she would see me start to get nervous again, she would drop what she was doing and grab my hand and tell me that everything was going to be okay.

Now I’m sure Jackie had other patients that were just as much in need of her attention as I was, but Jackie never made me feel that way. I felt as though I was the only person in the world that she was focused on. In all honesty, it kind of felt like I had my sister with me. I have never been so comfortable around someone in my entire life. Before I knew it she and I were laughing through the pain. I was laying in a bed with a broken hip but I didn’t care, because Jackie was there. I knew that as long as she was smiling everything was OK. She advocated for me when the meds weren’t working and didn’t stop until we found one that did. Prior to arriving at Silver Cross, I was just patient X, but to Jackie? I was L, mom. I was a sister, a daughter, and a wife. I was a person to her. I truly feel that Jackie was perfectly placed in my life at the exact moment I needed her.