In the middle of the night, I was in high pain and limited pain medication, with conflicting recommendations from Internal Medicine and Palliative Care physicians. Jordyn empathically helped me sort through this. She was a validating, empathic listener when I shared my felt helplessness and frustration with her and even exhibited humility in asking if I had experienced a statement she had made, as minimizing my pain (I hadn’t).

Jordyn then helped me troubleshoot barriers to other pain management strategies – such as finding this elastic netting to hold a hot pack in place on a painful part of my arm and using an elastic running belt I had to similarly hold one in place near my kidney, where my lymphoma-related pain was the worst. As a mother of 2 young daughters, the process of waiting for diagnostics tests, grappling with a lymphoma diagnosis, dealing with pain that increases at night, and being apart from my daughters at night has been extremely difficult for me. Seeing Jordyn’s bright smile, empathetic face, and experiencing her gentle, compassionate approach each night, has made these nights easier.