Sherry was my nurse for four days toward the middle of my two-week stay in TLC. At that point, I had gone through a rough week of testing and was having trouble with my oxygen levels and with eating. It was obvious that Sherry was experienced and knew a lot about my health issue, but it didn’t take long for me to learn that she was very willing to go above and beyond. I was experiencing a lot of anxiety because of my breathing difficulties, which was only causing more anxiety. Sherry got me moving, which helped me improve greatly. She knew just how much to push me and help me break my habit of watching the monitor constantly for my oxygen levels. She also helped me to explore ways to deal with my anxiety medically and was an advocate for me with my doctors.

In addition, she encouraged me to ask for simple changes to the food on the hospital menu to make it more appealing to me. I had lost a lot of weight in the hospital, so that was the encouragement I needed. The most amazing thing Sherry did was to arrange a visit with my dogs! She had my husband meet me near a side entrance to the hospital with my two dogs. She brought along a nursing assistant and a doctor, and I very safely got to see my dogs and hold them. It was so healing and fun! I really appreciated the time Sherry took to get to know me and help meet my needs. I made some great progress while she was my nurse, and I give her a lot of that credit.

The day I was able to move to intermediate care, she came along to help me get settled, and when I thanked her for everything, she gave me a hug. I had a lot of great nursing care in the TLC, but Sherry was integral to my improvement. She is a special nurse!