My fiancé was receiving treatment for an extremely aggressive form of refractory acute leukemia. He had been admitted through the emergency room for a fever and received transfusions, scans, and continued monitoring that interrupted his sleep for several days. Due to lack of sleep, he became delirious and withdrawn over four days and stopped talking, eating, taking oral medicine, or interacting with family and staff. Ethel was the night nurse the first night we arrived after he had stopped talking. She was so caring, empathetic, and kind to me as I was trying to talk to my fiancé even though he was unable to respond. She patiently helped to clean his bed and change his lines even though he was agitated and made sure that I was taken care of and informed.

On the second night with Ethel as our nurse, the doctor requested that we try giving him uninterrupted sleep to see if he improved. Ethel timed all his medications out and made sure we were both comfortable. She also made sure that no one on the floor would enter to interrupt his sleep. He improved and began talking and responding again the next morning. When Ethel returned the third night, her patient, who previously had been unable to talk or even make eye contact, was suddenly back to himself, and I was so impressed and grateful that she took it completely in stride. She spoke to my fiancé like an adult, asked him about his hobbies, and shared about her young children and favorite places to eat in Houston. Ethel didn't bring up the fact that my fiancé couldn't remember the past few days or that she had already been his nurse for two nights.

This week had been the most traumatic part of the entire cancer ordeal so far, but Ethel was supportive and made me feel comfortable by celebrating my fiancé's improvement with me. I am so grateful Ethel was there to advocate for my fiancé and ensure he got three nights' sleep to improve his condition and got to meet him when he was acting himself again!