When I was in the hospital I had a nurse's aide named Evie. She has been working at the hospital for 40 years. She was only a couple of years older than me, so she must have started working there when she was young.
Evie was a wonderful aide, even though she has been working there for so long, she was not burned out at all. She was loving and caring and made me feel so special. She took care of me like I was one of her relatives, not just a stranger/patient on her watch.
I know my story touched the staff with the 2 cancers to beat, then the gall bladder incident, and I sure looked like hell when I got there, all yellow. And it was my birthday and we had to cancel our vacation. I garnered lots of sympathy from everyone, but I sure didn't want anyone to pity me and I was in pretty good spirits while I was there. Everyone of the staff was great to me, but there was something special about Evie.
The day after my surgery things turned scary. My counts were way down and the doctors were very concerned that an infection was brewing. They ordered per-cautionary tests and I needed to have a blood transfusion.
After the doctors were done swarming all over me and scaring me ( I had 4 different departments on my case!) Evie came in. She had cleared her schedule to be with me. Even though I had been doing my self care on my own,she thought I needed a bit of TLC and came in and helped me freshen up and spent time with me because she knew it was going to be a hard couple of days for me and she didn't want me to be alone.
She would often come in my room and tell me that I was sweet and she loved me and wanted me to get well. It made me feel so cared for and I enjoyed her visits.
She bended over backwards for me, always double checking IV's and even the blood for the transfusions even though that was not her job. She would walk into my room and always adjust the temperature if she thought it needed it, I never had to ask.
When I had company she always offered them refreshments. She was one of a kind and I so enjoyed having her for an aide.
She said the hardest thing about her job was that people leave and she never finds out what happened to them. She had me promise to visit.
I visited her last week one day after chemo. It was great to see her and we hugged and hugged.
When the hospital called me for follow up after I got home they asked me lots of questions about the care I received and I made sure to mention Evie. The woman on the phone told me that Evie was "one of a kind" and always got great feedback from patients.
It is nice when you run into a real life angel, just when you need one!
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One Good Christmas
12 years ago
2 comments:
What an angel is right. I believe they're all around us if we're open to it. I'm so glad you found yours.
Accept all the TLC you can get & be good to yourself.
P.S. The green drink...not bad. I use kale, spinach, an apple or pear, frozen grapes or blueberries..sometimes I throw in some protein powder that I bought from my nutritionist, rice based or whey is good. It doesn't look good but it's quite refreshing..the fruit overtakes the veggie taste & it's ok. Also, after drinking it, you feel so good you don't want to eat anything bad..in my case, sugar! I'm just getting started but I'm really going to do it on a more regular basis. I have a pulverizer not really a juicer~the juicers make the drink smoother while mine is a bit more pulpy. I'll keep you updated as I get more into it. Much love to you.
Evie sounds like a wonderful person, a "real life angel," as you said. Thank you for introducing her to us. Take care of yourself. I am glad to see you post again.
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