Our 84-year-old father had just completed 30 treatments of radiation for cancer on his vocal cord. He was already weak, weary, and worn out. We knew he had a bad heart; he had coded three times in the past, had 5 stents in his heart, and had heart disease. So, when he said he had chest pains and had already taken two nitroglycerin and still was having severe pain, I knew we had to quickly get him to the ER. After treatment in the ER, he was admitted for observation.
We were all scared and confused. We had lost our mom six years earlier. Just having watched our strong, very independent dad go through radiation treatments and seeing the toll it had taken on him, had been almost unbearable at times. Now we were in the hospital for his heart. We were completely overwhelmed.
Often the first nurse you have determines much about your hospital experience. Our first nurse was a lady and she was very good, so we hated when it was time for her to get off work. We were concerned about the transition because we had just told her "everything" that we needed her to know about our dad in a way that only three daughters can do. And now it was time for her to leave already? We listened carefully when she shared our dad's story with the new nurse coming on. The new nurse a male nurse.
Then we go a chance to meet Basem. He was delightful. He immediately went to dad's bed to introduce himself and then spoke to each of us. He smiled as he greeted us. His smile seemed contagious. It was apparent from the beginning that this was much more than a job to him.
He went over all that he had been told and then invited us to fill in any blanks. He was very engaging, and it was obvious he was there to serve.
It wasn't long before it came time for me and one of my sisters to leave. Our other sister would stay with dad for the night just in case. That night is when we learned dad was having A-fib. Basem reacted quickly and calmly to this. My dad started vomiting and sweating and then his heart started doing whatever it does in A-fib. My sister called us, and we quickly headed back to the hospital.
The way Basem handled it had everything to do with our response to what was going on. He seemed concerned but confident. That allowed us to show that we were concerned but confident. Basem began asking us more questions about our dad and his heart condition, inviting us to share even more with him. He never tired of our questions, and there were many. He often would go to our dad's bedside and ask him how he was doing. I noticed he always smiled when he talked to our dad.
A couple of times we helped our dad to the restroom and his heart monitor must have gone off or something because Basem would come rushing in the room with a flashlight looking for dad. When we explained he was in the restroom, Basem would smile and patiently wait to help dad back into bed making sure he was comfortable and secure before leaving.
Several times dad would move his arm in such a way that it would set off his IV, which can be a very irritating sound if you are family. Basem offered dad an arm brace to keep this from happening but quickly said if at any time it became uncomfortable, we could take it off. It wasn't long before Basem was back in the room removing the brace with the same smile had greeted us with all day.
One of the things I remember most is when Basem left the next morning, we asked if he would be back that night. We were all hoping he would- somehow that thought was very reassuring to all of us. Once again, he smiled and said he would see us that night. As the evening approached, we asked would Basem be there and we were told they weren't sure he would be dad's nurse. We were disappointed and, honestly, I wondered if maybe we had just been too much for him the night before. But as I was walking back to dad's room, I saw Basem coming down the hall smiling. He asked how dad was and stopped to listen to my response. After explaining I said, "They told me you aren't his nurse tonight and we will miss you," and he quickly responded, "Oh, yes, I am his nurse tonight."
Basem left an impression on our family we will not soon forget. We will always be thankful for the way in which he took care of our dad. Because I had never heard of his name before, I looked it up and found it very interesting to find that Basem means "one who smiles." Just learning that made me smile. Our family will often "smile" when we think of the care our father received from Basem during his stay in the hospital.