the power of gratitude.....

Apparently it's "nurse appreciation week." My cousin's wife & good friend of mine, Cassie, reminded me of such an important week through facebook. Her status read:

Being a NURSE means you carry immense responsibility & very little authority. You step into peoples lives & make a difference. Some bless you, others curse you. You see people at their worst & at their best. You see life begin & end & everything in between. You see people's capacity for love, courage, & endurance. IT'S NURSE APPRECIATION WEEK. REPOST IF YOU ARE A NURSE, LOVE A NURSE AND/OR APPRECIATE A NURSE 

Now I'm not a fan of reposting things in my status but this time I did. I reposted the exact same thing. A day later, I'm thinking it's just not enough for me. 

I come from a long line of nurses. My grandmother, my Aunts, my sister, my sister in law, a few cousins, friends, and well, you get the idea. I am one of those fortunate people that whenever I was hurt, there was always a nurse within 20 feet to take immediate action.  I've heard stories from every one of them...still hear stories to this day. Some sad, some happy. The stories I don't understand are the idiots that treat nurses like crap. If you're in the hospital or if you have to go to the ER, why on EARTH would you be rude to the nurse taking care of you or your family member? You do know he or she has the power to expedite your case to the doctor? You do know he or she can accidentally "miss" taking blood & have to re-stick you, right? Or the families that yell at the nurses for no reason? Or the families that hang around the nurses station the entire time they're visiting their family member in the hospital.

I can only imagine how tough it must be to be a nurse in today's day & age. The knowledge they have to have, the constant training, to be quick on your feet, to be able to manage multiple patients at a time, and to be good at it too. I'm sure there is a fair share of nurses out in the world who are not good at what they do, but in my experience I haven't come across one yet (knock on wood).

So here I am blogging about nurses. Not just any nurses but the ones that took care of me and Kev during what was the worst time of our lives. I hope that through words  I'm able to express my gratitude for all the nurses at Cedars Sinai that I'm speaking about. You know who you are.... critical care tower 6th floor CSICU & CICU as well as the 6th floor North tower. And to the three nurses who continue to take care of us on a daily basis, yes folks I'm referring to those SUPER VAD ladies. You all rock.

The nurses I speak of were beyond amazing. My husband not only had the BEST care but so did I. They took care of me in the process. They took care of our families. They cared. They went above & beyond the call of being a nurse. Every night I left the hospital I hated it. Walking out of his room killed my spirit, broke my heart, but I was uplifted as I passed the nurses station. All of their smiling faces reminding me to "get some sleep tonight" or "call if you want to check on him" or "we'll take care of him Tracy." It was so comforting knowing they were there. Knowing I could call to get a status report. Even to this day when we have to go back to the hospital for various reasons...walking the halls seems as if we're "home" because of all the smiling familiar faces. The ones that hug us and ask about the boys....ask how Kev is doing...ask how I'm doing. It's something I never expected but am so ridiculously happy that they're all on OUR side.

And those SUPER VAD ladies.... I can never say enough. Constantly in touch with them, whether it's via email, phone, or using face time on the iphone. During every surgery Kev has ever had...I was comforted knowing they were in the OR with him. These SUPER VAD ladies have been there during the best and worst moments of our LVAD journey....These three ladies make shit happen. They don't take no for an answer. They always find a way, a solution to our problem be it small or big. I can honestly say that once Kevin gets a new heart, the only thing we'll miss about the LVAD are the SUPER VAD ladies. They are THAT wonderful.

I hope the CEO of Cedars Sinai knows how lucky they are to have all of the above mentioned nurses. I hope the doctors know how lucky they are to have them on their side. They all deserve a raise but since I  don't have the power to give them a raise, I can give them a standing ovation. For sure.

To anyone reading this.... if you know a nurse, cross paths with a nurse, see a nurse, have to go to the ER or doctor's office, or have a loved one in the hospital....say THANK YOU. Say THANK YOU to them because they ARE the heart & soul of your recovery.

Now for me, I must've told all the nurses at Cedars Sinai thank you at least a million times but I just gotta tell 'em again.........

From the bottom of my beating heart, thank you.