I recently had a spinal fusion surgery done and had Alex as my nurse in the PACU. I spent more time than usual in the PACU because there were no available beds. I was with Alex for her full 12-hour shift, and in that time, I had never been more comfortable in a hospital setting. I’m a fiercely independent person and feeling dependent and vulnerable with a stranger is not easy for me. I would press my call button just a minute after she had repositioned me, and not once would she make me feel like a burden, even though I clearly was. Anytime she was in my space she made me feel like the most important person despite anything else she may have had going on. I am a transgender man, and the idea of depending on someone to help me after using the bathroom was the most anxiety-provoking experience of my life. Somehow Alex was even able to make that feel like it was no big deal. She respected me and treated me with the dignity I felt I had lost by being unable to attend to my own personal hygiene. Alex was clearly advocating for me, and even though I couldn’t get a room before her shift ended, I had the best 12 hours. I spent that night in the PACU, knowing that in the morning Alex would be back in the AM. When she came back, I was able to go to the bathroom alone, and without me asking, she provided me with the materials to brush my teeth, change my johnny, and wash my body. She checked in with me all the time, always asking if I needed something. A few hours into her second shift, a bed was made available. I don’t know if anyone has ever said they wanted to remain in PACU but I would have rather stayed in PACU with Alex than go to my own private room. The 18ish hours I spent with Alex were the most comfortable hours I spent at a hospital. I’ve never been treated with such respect or as if I were the most important patient in that hospital. Any patient who gets Alex as their PACU nurse is a very lucky patient. I wish I had the ability to thank her in person.