Alaina showed love and compassion. She took care of my daughter as if she was the only patient in the unit. She cuddled her, calmed her, bathed her all the special things they all did. But there was one night in particular that stood out above all the others. It was a Saturday night and her third consecutive night taking care of my daughter.
My daughter was born with congenital heart disease. She was admitted to Children's when she was only two days old. She underwent major surgery and had mostly recovered by that night. We were looking at going home the following week. But, unfortunately, my daughter got very sick that night. She started running a fever, turned very pale and had some pretty scary lab work results. The doctor working that night did his best to explain everything to me, but I couldn't hear anything he was saying at that moment. I was completely overwhelmed with the sight of multiple nurses and CNAs in my daughter's room. They were putting her back on oxygen and giving her blood and bringing in all the equipment that had been taken out because she no longer needed it. I sat on the couch just staring at them all swarming around my daughter, each doing their best to take care of her.
I soon realized my face was stricken with tears and I felt as if I was going to explode with fear. Alaina looked at me from across the room and mouthed, "everything is okay." I wanted to smile and thank her for encouraging me, but I couldn't. Instead, I got up and walked out of the room. I sat back down on the couch and took a deep breath. Next thing I knew, she was sitting beside me with her hand on my shoulder. She knew I was alone and scared and didn't understand. To some, it may seem like nothing, but to me, that night, it was everything! I truly don't believe I would have emotionally survived that might without Alaina's support, encouragement and ability to help me understand what happened.