I was diagnosed with probable renal cell carcinoma and bone metastasis. Ten days later I was scheduled for a bone biopsy. At this point, we still had no definitive diagnosis or prognosis and I had been struggling both mentally and physically for 10 days. I arrived at the hospital for the bone biopsy, and they wheeled me down for the procedure and I met Nurse Bartels. I asked, "How much more pain am I about to be in?" I felt like she actually heard me. She made me feel like she was just as concerned for my wellbeing, both physical and mental, as I was. She gave me straight answers to all of my questions, went out of her way to make sure I was comfortable with the procedure, reassured me about what would and wouldn't hurt, and talked to me through the whole procedure to keep my mind off the fact they were sticking a needle into my vertebra to determine what is killing me. I cannot express enough how much her kindness and care have affected me. She made sure I was physically ok during and after the procedure, she made me feel like she saw me as an actual person. I doubt she has any idea of the profound effect that she had on my mental state that day, and this award nomination is what I was told to do to let her know just how much I appreciate everything she did. Just trying to explain how much her treatment of me helped me brings me to tears.