Back in September of 2014 my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. They had to do a left side mastectomy with major lymph node removal, then she had to endure 6 months of chemo, she had reconstruction surgery last August and has had a couple of revision surgeries . All told my wife had 6 surgeries. All her surgeries were done at the Alton Sand Canyon Facility on the 2nd floor of the hospital.
First off, let me say that the doctors and nurses you have at that facility are the greatest bunch of doctors and nurses that you will ever find anywhere. Every single doctor, nurse, anesthesiologist, anyone we came in contact with us were so caring, and they made us feel that. They treated my wife and me with the utmost respect and always made sure they were available should have had any concerns. You certainly cannot find another group of healthcare professionals anywhere that provided us with the kind of care that Kaiser provided us during this ordeal. We couldn't have asked for anything better than what we received from these people in pre-op at Alton Sand Canyon. They saved my wife's life. They are all truly heroes in my eyes.
But it's your Recovery Room nurses that I'm writing about, one nurse in particular, Cindy Hicks. When I was finally able to go back and be with my wife in the Recovery Room and I was finally able to see her, these nurses were the tops in their profession. I've never met a group of doctors and nurses that were so caring and loving and so dedicated to the health of their patients. Out of all the surgeries my wife had, we were very fortunate to have Cindy care for my wife on three different surgeries.
As far as my wife and I are concerned, Cindy was heaven sent to us. From the very first time we met, we know we were blessed to have Cindy take care of her. She knew how stressed I was after my wife's mastectomy, and feeling so lost, but yet took the time to make sure that I was ok too. She calmed our fears and worries with her compassion for what we were going through. She made sure that my wife was comfortable at all times, getting her anything that she needed, always inquiring what her pain level was, constantly checking her. It was so comforting to have her as our nurse whenever my wife was in the Recovery Room. My wife and I were so lost and had no clue as to how it was going to play out, but yet here was Cindy taking that negative and turning it back into a positive. She always seemed to have an answer for everything, no matter what we asked her. So it was of great comfort to us to have a nurse like Cindy take care of her.
When we had Cindy a second time it was when my wife had her reconstruction surgery where she was hospitalized for 5 days. I didn't know what to expect when I was finally able to go back and see her, but I didn't expect to see her all tethered up in IV's, the machines they had on her bed and the amount of covering they had on her, it really hit me hard. I became very emotional and visibly upset and here was Cindy comforting my two daughters and me and reassuring us that she would recover and she would be ok. I have never seen or met a healthcare professional that went way above the call of nursing. If we needed anything, Cindy went and got it. If we had questions and she didn't have an answer. She went and got it. The level of care that Cindy provided for my wife was always above 10 stars. The love and compassion she gave to my wife, my daughters and me; I cannot even begin to describe how much that meant to us. I truly believe that God knew what my wife and I needed and he sent Cindy as "our angel" from heaven to take care of her.
We truly believe that Cindy was heaven sent. I knew that when we had Cindy the second time, that God had heard our prayers. But what meant the most to us is that Cindy stopped by my wife's room after she was done with her shift that day to check on her and see how she was doing. I was so moved and incredibly touched by this. I will never forget that. Ever.
The last time we had Cindy was my wife's latest surgery which was a couple weeks ago. My wife was going in for revisions on the reconstruction that was done. As with every surgery my wife went through, there was always that worry or fear that something could go wrong and on this particular day I guess I was stressing a lot more than I thought because I was having some chest discomfort and wasn't feeling just right. It started to get worse after they took her in. I thought maybe it was because I hadn't eaten anything that morning so I went and got something to eat and returned back to the waiting area in the Surgical Department. I ate my breakfast but was still feeling pressure when a nurse came out and announced my name and she took me back to see my wife and on the way back she told me that Cindy was taking care of my wife. I felt so relieved when she told me that.
When we got to my wife's bed, here was Cindy talking to my wife, telling her about her daughters, making her laugh, making her comfortable, and doing what nurses normally do. I sat down after greeting my wife and my wife asked me if I was ok? I asked why and my wife saw I was perspiring and that I looked very pale. I told my wife that I was feeling a little discomfort in my chest and Cindy overheard what I said and suggested that I should let her take my blood pressure to make sure I was ok. She had me sit on a chair in the next room which was vacant and she took my blood pressure. It came back 149/97. Cindy immediately suggested that I go to ER and be seen. I did not want to leave my wife and I wasn't feeling any pain in my chest so we eventually agreed that when Cindy came back from her break that she would take it again and if it was high I would go to ER while they watched my wife. That's what I mean going above and beyond the call of nursing. Her responsibility was to care for my wife and here she's checking me and advising I go be seen. After Cindy came back from break she took it again and this time it read 134/82. She was relieved that it had at least gone down. She asked me one last time if I was sure I didn't want to go to the ER? I declined again so they started preparing my wife for discharge.
In all of my years of living, I have never been so blessed in my life when we met Cindy. What she gave to my wife and I we could never repay her. The level of dedication she has for her patients is unbelievable. The love and compassion she shared with us I cannot even begin to describe in words, but it is something we will treasure and never ever forget, not for a very long time.
When they discharged my wife this last time, I wanted to share this with Cindy before we left and found myself becoming emotional and so I just gave Cindy a big hug and thanked her for everything. When we got home I wanted Cindy to truly know how we felt so I posted those feelings on her timeline on Facebook. It would have been way too emotional to tell her at the hospital and I got to speak from my heart which I am so glad I did. As you can see on what other people posted, Cindy is truly a one of a kind human being and an amazing nurse according to people that know her. We saw that first hand. We have been so touched by Cindy, and we were incredibly blessed to have Cindy as my wife's nurse on three different surgeries. When Cindy took care of my wife, I can honestly say I had no worries when it came to her care.
You know, there are people that touch your lives and there are people that make an impact on your lives. Cindy impacted ours and we will be forever grateful for that.