I was recently a surgical patient at MUSC-ART facing an uncertain surgery and outcome. As a result, I was terrified and was trying my best to hide my anxiety. From the moment Edward Litwin greeted me in the lobby, he made me feel comfortable, supported, and heard. He asked specifically about my privacy requests and if I wanted my family/support people to wait in pre-op with me. He asked what, if anything, I wanted shared with them. He positioned himself outside the curtain so that I had privacy to change while we could still talk and go through the required questions. When I made a joke about the lack of plus-sized gowns, he immediately asked the CNA to locate a larger one for me and assured me my comfort and dignity where his first concerns. He told me, "There is no shame here, friend. I will get you what you need." From that moment on, I felt like I had a friend and champion in him. He asked the CNA, who was also lovely and supportive, to handle the intimate needs for me so that I would not feel embarrassed, and they had an obviously warm and supportive working relationship. Their calm, kind, and patient-focused teamwork made me feel even more confident and far less anxious. Ed was clearly extremely experienced placing the IV easily and without pain. He chatted with me as he worked to ease my anxiety and, by the time my surgeon and anesthesia team stopped by, I was smiling, relaxed, and without serious fear. Ed even went so far as to help me arrange to have my phone and glasses transferred to postop because I knew I might be there for many hours after the surgery, and I did not want to be blind and cut off from my support people. It was the one thing that I was obsessing about (rather than the overwhelming fear of the surgery itself) and Ed went out of his way to not only make me feel not crazy for worrying about those kinds of relatively trivial details, but he also solved the potential problem for me and again assured me all would be well and that my comfort was his priority. If I could have taken Ed with me into the surgical suite as my human security blanket, I would have. I chose MUSC because of its culture of promoting patient and family centered care. Personally experiencing truly patient-centered care on a day that I was dreading, well, it actually did make all the difference. I remain profoundly grateful to all of MUSC and every care team member who carries out the hard work of treating patients with dignity and respect and who take the time to collaborate with patients to create the best possible outcomes. During my most recent surgery, Ed embodied everything that is right at MUSC and with the nursing profession as a whole.