April 2022
Deanna
Cram
,
RN
Cardiology
University of Vermont Medical Center
Burlington
,
VT
United States
Deanna's positive outlook and seeing the glass "half full" is what kept my mom at peace before her surgery.
It's taken me quite a while to have the emotional strength to even write this. It's been roughly seven months since I lost my mother. My mom was very healthy up until her heart attack that led to hospitalization. She suffered a heart attack and was admitted needing to have bypass surgery; she was understandably terrified. I was equally as terrified as my mom was more than just a mother to me; she had been my best friend and the only person that had been there for me so many countless times in my life. During the days she was hospitalized on the cardiac floor, she had excellent nurses. But one stood out above the rest, and that was Deanna Cram. We didn't know that those few days before her surgery would be her last days on this earth, and in those days, we created memories I will look back on forever. Deanna's care for my mother went above and beyond what is expected of a nurse, and she offered my mom such profound comfort in what would ultimately be her last days. Deanna's positive outlook and seeing the glass "half full" is what kept my mom at peace before her surgery. While Deanna didn't sugarcoat the grim situation my mom was facing, she ensured that my mom didn't lose hope that there was a possibility that things would be OK. Losing my mom has been the single most difficult thing I have ever faced in life. The one thing I can look back on with some comfort in those last days with my mom at the hospital was knowing that she was so well cared for and inspired by Deanna. I found out after my mom's death that she had written "Deanna Cram" on a note and had it in her purse so she could remember her name because she wanted to do something special for her when she was discharged because of the impact that had been made. Deanna is all that is good in this world, and I can guarantee you she is changing lives every day she is interacting with patients, and I am forever grateful for her kindness.