This summer, we traveled to O'ahu from Los Angeles for a carefully planned family vacation. There were 12 of us. Me, my husband, our 3 sons, my pregnant sister, her husband, their 3 children, my father, and my mother, who had Stage IV cancer. Mom had just finished another round of chemo and got approval from her oncologist to take a trip to Hawaii...a place we all loved to visit. She had a bit of trouble on the flight - she was out of breath and tired. That night when we arrived at the hotel, we let her sleep. The next day, she presented signs of altered mental status, she was confused, disoriented. She also spilled her coffee all over herself. My sister and I decided to seek medical attention immediately. The nearest hospital was Queen's Medical Center in West O'ahu.
We took her to the ER and it was there we realized both her lungs were filled with fluid. They stabilized her breathing and put her in a regular room. The next day, she had some major problems with her 02 levels which could only be resolved with a thoracentesis. A small team of nurses came down to the room to transport Mom to ICU. My family and I had no idea that was the day we would meet real-life angels! From the introduction, they were so professional, kind, and gentle with Mom. They talked her through everything they were doing to her. She was never caught by surprise, she always was aware of what was being done. She was probably scared, we were too. But even in those first moments of the ordeal, we felt like we were in very good hands.
Mom spent days in ICU. She actually transferred back to a regular room for two nights because she was making some progress. But much to our dismay, she took a turn and was back in ICU. There was one vivid moment that I have in my mind when Mom's blood pressure went extremely low. One of the nurses, Boyd, a strapping young man from Australia, came flying in just took over the situation. He was such an incredibly strong man, he managed to lift Mom in bed on his own, which normally takes two nurses to do standing on either side. It was like watching a Marvel movie. That was the day Boyd became our favorite superhero!
Days at the hospital turned to weeks. Day in and day out, the nursing staff in ICU was unbelievably comforting and compassionate. As the days passed, we started noticing the nurses' schedules, who's shift was when because we had been there for quite some time. As a family, we rotated shifts as well. My dad in the day, my sister and I at night. We never left her side and the nurses were very understanding and tried their best to keep us all comfortable. We witnessed everything being done to her every minute. All the nurses were good about keeping us informed of what they were doing, what the monitors meant, what the next steps were. They never left us wondering. The team was very quick on their feet, extremely knowledgable, confident and every time an alert would go off for Mom, there they were, already acting on it and doing what they could to resolve it. We knew that Mom's condition was not improving and despite the fact that she would be asleep most of the time, the team never stopped talking to her, making sure they told her everything they were doing to her. They maintained utmost respect for her and never let us lose hope.
One day, my mom's blood pressure and heart rate became extremely unstable. The nurses knew she was in grave danger but they never let us feel the panic, they almost moved around the room like graceful choreographed dancers- now looking back, it really was like watching angels do their work. They told us what was happening, made sure that my family was all there or on their way. They gave us time alone with my mom, which to this day has brought me so much comfort. When my mom left us, we felt so much support and love from the team. They knew exactly what to say, what to do to make us feel that they truly cared.
To this day, we are so utterly grateful and so appreciative for every single one of them. They are angels on Earth. As we near the one year anniversary of the day my mom earned her wings, we have plans to spend this anniversary in O'ahu and visit with the nurses with who we were oh so blessed to cross paths with.