I came into the ED with a really bad asthma flare and obvious respiratory distress. The ED was very busy, and my wait time was over 3 hours. The wait time wasn’t an issue. I understood. The issue didn’t begin until the provider who came to see me immediately dismissed me. My desire for X-rays and testing was ignored, and they simply gave me a steroid injection and 2 nebulizer treatments and practically pushed me out the door. Frankie came in and sat with me while I cried and tried to advocate for me with the provider, but unfortunately wasn’t able to convince them to take any further action. I told her I just knew there was more to it, and she believed in me.

When I left, she escalated a complaint on my behalf and reached out directly to plead with me to return to the ED and be evaluated by another Provider. I did and was subsequently diagnosed with severe RSV and am going on my second day of admission. Who knows how quickly I could have progressed to an extremely dangerous situation? Frankie’s faith in my judgment and her judgment allowed her to go above a provider’s diagnosis, and I believe she saved me a lot of suffering by doing so.