My wife had gone through a year of treatment at Deaconess Gateway Hospital in Evansville. Unfortunately, when she was only a few weeks from remission, she was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer metastasized to the liver. Her oncologist recommended we go to UK Health due to the different treatments available and our insurance covered it in full. Lexington is about 4 hours from home, or we would've considered treatment there in the beginning.

From the night we arrived to the day we left, my wife experienced nothing but top-level are from everyone involved. I believe we stayed there for around 5 weeks. The family room was helpful to us as we had her close family and friends coming up to visit because we weren't sure if she would make it home. In the beginning, we had Doctor M. as her oncologist. She was good at explaining what was going on, what to expect, and what our options were. We felt that if there was something that could be done, she would figure it out. Next, we met E. E was her nurse for a while, She was wonderful and my wife really liked how well she cared for her. She made all of us feel more comfortable. She would also check on me, as I stayed in the hospital with my wife.

Unfortunately, E's time came when she was going to be off and probably wouldn't be back in. She was a blessing. The same happened with Dr. M. Her stint working there ran up and we were then working with Dr. C, Dr. S, and Lauren. Dr. C was great and really tried to do her best to keep my wife comfortable and safe as she was trying different treatments and procedures to help her counts get in good enough shape to continue chemotherapy. The same with Dr. S. We were even allowed to bring my wife's dog, Millie up! I'm not sure who was more excited, Millie or my wife. Once they said we could allow my wife to spend some time with her dog she was so happy because once she was diagnosed, we weren't sure if she would make it home to see her or not.

I drove an eight-hour round trip, and it was worth it. I'll try to include a picture of them here. As her condition progressed we were beyond blessed to have Lauren and the nighttime nurse. I don't remember his name, but Lauren was adamant he was great. Please look up who it was and tell him I said thank you. Those two took turns (among many others) caring for her. I wish I could remember their names better. But as her disease progressed, she needed more and more help and they were always there.

I will never forget one of the nurses coming in and helping and my wife saying "Is this your first day?" Because I guess she could tell she was newer. My heart skipped a beat for a second. The nurse replied, "It's my third day." And my wife replied, "Well, you're doing a great job." And the woman's night hopefully got a little better because she was doing a good job but you could tell she was a little stressed. My wife was a Surgical Tech so I guess she could recognize her being new. I was waiting for her to answer the question with, "No, I've been here for years!" and then I would've been embarrassed. It was very funny.

My wife woke up one morning in a moment of clarity that we had not seen in weeks. She stated she wanted to go home and spend her last days with her family and dogs. Dr. C was great at explaining what that would entail and making sure we all knew exactly how that would work. Her decision was made, and everyone involved made it happen. We made it home from that long ambulance ride and were greeted by our families who had prepared the house along with Hospice. She spent her last few days with me, the dogs, our parents, brother, sister, and nieces. She peacefully passed away at our home in Southern Illinois. At the service, there were some flowers from some of the nurses from UK. One basket was from Lauren individually. We all cried at how much that meant to us. I'm typing this out because the survey doesn't do justice to how caring the staff was. I'm not sure if it's possible, but I would just like to say thank you to everyone that cared for her during our stay. Especially the names listed. Thank you for everything.