A patient called to say that she was desperate. She had agonizing back pain for the past week, and her primary care physician refused to see her. She went to the ER twice at two different hospitals and was turned away; she was told that nothing could be done for her. I told Rula Khalidi, the psychiatrist's nurse with whom I was sharing office space, and was present when she called the patient.

Rula listened attentively with great kindness. She set the patient's mind at ease by telling her that she would be cared for and that someone from the team would get back to her shortly. Rula then told Michelle D’Aquino, the oncologist’s nurse. Both nurses advocated on the patient's behalf. They knew this patient and knew she was not drug-seeking. These compassionate nurses knew that if she complained of severe pain, something was terribly wrong. They were able to get the patient's oncologist to do a direct admission to the hospital, where it was discovered that she had osteomyelitis and myocarditis.

The patient was told that she was lucky to be alive and that if she waited any longer, she would have died. The patient spent two weeks in the hospital receiving antibiotics and had completely recovered a few weeks later. Incidentally, the patient's cancer is in remission. She remains extremely grateful to these two nurses for looking out for her best interests.