N is for Nurse

Doctors often get all the glory but the nurses are where treatment really is experienced.  Doctors generally do a good job of diagnosing, prescribing treatment, and managing drugs but it is the nurses that deliver all of these things to you.  They do it day in and day out, seeing you at your best and at your worst in the hospital, recovery rooms, and at the doctor's offices.

After surgeries in New Orleans, all patients wake up in the intensive care unit.  The ICU never has more than two patients per nurse and often, just one nurse for each patient.  I imagine that this is often the case for most hospitals but the care that I have received from these nurses has always been phenomenal.  I remember one night in the ICU where I had swallowed a rather large pill while still having an NG tube in my stomach.

The nurse turned off the suction while I took the medicine but I was absolutely convinced that the pills were still stuck in my throat.  I know that it as almost certainly the NG tube that was causing those feelings but the combination of ICU insanity and medication made me a bit unstable.  The nurse sat with me for several hours as I struggled with a complete lack of sleep and a certainty that I was going to choke.

They have gone to great lengths to try and make sure I am as comfortable as possible in the ICU where comfort is almost the opposite of what you experience here.  The ICU is full of beeping lights, blood pressure cuffs every 15 minutes, checkups every 2 hours and general noise of continual activity.  One stay in the ICU had a door outside my room that (in my perspective) kept slamming.  The charge nurse put a sign on that door, telling everyone to not let the door fall shut but close it gently instead and it helped quite a bit with what little sleep I was able to get.

After being released from the ICU, I go up to a regular room for another couple of days and there are nurses there that have taken wonderful care of me.  They are always ensuring that I have sufficient ice water to drink, I have juice when I am not NPO, and they find medicine to help me sleep and survive the final stretch in the hospital.

The same kindness is seen in nurses throughout my treatment over the years.  Nurses at the oncologists' office know me by sight and ask about the family and other things going on in my life.  They are on top of my my treatment and always greet me with a smile.  Remember your nurses and thank them.