Thanks from a Patient

Today a patient that I had previously taken care of brought me these cool little mugs.

The one on the left is actually a tea infuser (with a holder in it for tea) and the Tinkerbell one will keep a nice cup of coffee warm~

The patient also brought the staff a huge tray of homemade taquitos and guacamole.  Yum!
She just wanted to say thank you.

She is so sweet and we had bonded the day that I took care of her but I never expected any gifts from her.  Some patients you bond with more than others and she just happened to be one of them...yet, I never expected gifts.

She was the one that was hurting.
She was the one who needed care.
She was the experiencing a life changing event.
She was the one who had lost her little girl...
All I did was give her the care that I would hope someone would give my family member during a time of crisis...yet she turned it all around to share a piece of herself and make the staff feel treasured.

She had come in with the complaint of not feeling her baby move.
I so remember trying to find her babies heart beat...to no avail...
I remember the room and the time of day...so does she...
I quickly took down a health history and took some vital signs, then told her that I would wait to do all of the paperwork later for I wanted to talk to the doctor and get an ultrasound ordered so that we could find out what was going on...though we both knew it was bad news.

I left the room, talked to the doctor, got the orders I needed and went back to her.  I needed to get her admitted and get all of her orders in the computer.
With tears in her eyes she said, "please listen one more time...try to find her heartbeat, please."

So, I did.  I put the rest of my tasks on hold and just took care of her.  Did what she needed me to do.
I still couldn't find any heart tones, and I quietly took off the monitor, saying, "I'm sorry, but I don't hear anything".  I went on to finish all of my admission and finished all the tasks that needed to be done.

I later did her delivery and got to see her precious little girl who had already flown in to the arms of Jesus.  I took photos and gathered mementos for her and shed a tear or two with her.  There was just something about her.  She touched me in a way that not all patients do.  I deal with patients just like her all of the time...but something about her got to me that day.  I had never met her before, could probably have just walked away that day and put it all behind me and moved on to the next case.  But she got to me.

I went to visit her the next day and she thanked for me providing her with compassionate care during a horrible moment.  She said that it meant so much to her that I took the time to check that second time for a heart beat.  She said, "I knew she was gone, You knew she was gone, But you did what I needed you to do, and for that I thank you"

We were able to reconnect today when she came to the hospital to visit.  I'm not sure that I could have gone back that soon after a loss but she wanted to see all of us.  She wanted to bring us gifts and say thanks in a tangible way.

She told me that I am like family now and wants to meet again.  I'm sure we will.
It's not that often that you connect with another person in such a way.  We will see each other again and probably become good friends.

It's not often that nurses get any thanks from patients...but I did from this one...and she reconfirmed for me why I do the job that I do.
Debbie