Friday was a day that forever changed my life. I had a procedure done with a 5-7 day stay at the hospital. I went to two hospitals first and was told I might be needing a device. I’m a petite, “seen as pretty” woman and this was my first major surgery of any kind in my life. I was scared. I had no visitors. I was new to the area and had been known as a healthy ballroom dancer and active dog trainer. Losing my health and fearing the new device was detrimental to my physical and mental health. I had quietly kept my condition to myself for many years. I feared this procedure for months.

After the surgery, I was humiliated by myself during recovery that my body wasn’t acting normal. Jonathan truly made me feel at ease about my procedure and even gave me a hug. I felt so defeated one night and needed that act of kindness. He made me not feel gross. He constantly checked on me in the halls even when he wasn’t my room nurse yet and spoke to me the entire week and said that I was going to be okay even when I felt I wasn’t going to be. He would crack mild and appropriate jokes which meant so much in those unbelievably fragile moments. Any negative words would have crushed my soul and haunted me forever.

It took 7 days for my body to function normally but he assured me diligently that it would regain normality and went above and beyond to make me mentally know everything was going to be all right. And you know what? I’m about to be discharged. Thankfully, I did not end up with the device as I feared. I will always be grateful for the superb job he did encouraging me and taking care of me when I was alone. He stood out through encouraging me to walk again as well which I believe helped me get out of here today.