Our Nurse, who was known as "Daum" at Duke University Hospital was the absolute best. My husband had the weirdest case of what turned out to be cancer in his spleen that was the size of a fetus by the time we found someone to remove it. Daum met us after we left the CICU and we were placed on his floor. What turned out to be a random visit to the ER turned into a three week stay in the hospital in complete discomfort and terror as we rode the road of mystery illness/diagnosis. My husband was the patient that random staff came to stare at because it was so strange.

After getting moved to his floor, my husband had not been outside for five days and he is a total outdoor person. Our room had no view and faced another tower. We could only see the sky off of a reflection of the opposing window. My husband was becoming frustrated and quite down because he could not even see outside. Daum was the most caring, best-ever person, not only in his care- as he knew exactly what to do and when to do it and how to get my husband to go along with awful moments of procedures using his knowledge, personality, and years of experience. He ended up making the cutest game of being a hotel representative and showing us another room on the same floor that had a window where we could see grass and people and life! He pretended to be a concierge and get us another room at the "Luxury Suites of Duke" and allowed us to move to a new room when one came available. I cannot tell you how much that meant to us.

He was funny, playful, and on point with all his care- we wanted to take him home with us. This was quite likely the worst moment we have ever had in our lives, and he made our stay so much more bearable. If every nurse could be a carbon copy of Daum, then no person would ever dislike being in the hospital. I cannot tell you how much it meant to us to have his humor, his care, his help, his communication skills in dealing with this fearful patient and his family, just sitting there talking to us and making us laugh during such a scary time. I tell everyone I know about Daum.

My husband just finished his 6 rounds of RCHOP and life has finally calmed down. I saw a sign for this award, so I felt the need to fill this out. He went more than the extra mile, he calmed us, helped us, and made us feel at home. We still miss him. Thank you, Daum, I hope you get to read this. You are the best!