My husband J and my life changed significantly. J had not been feeling well for quite some time (several months actually). He had been back and forth to several different doctors and was also admitted in July to Albany Medical Center for what they thought he had pneumonia. After a brief trip to Maine and then a wedding in Long Island, J was getting progressively worse by the day. He started forgetting things and acting very confused. So I decided to take him to the emergency room at Albany Med to get to the bottom of whatever was going on. Now before I go on, I must first tell you, J also has CLL and was diagnosed about 8 years ago so he has been doctoring for that as well. That evening he had several blood tests, a CAT scan, and MRI. The emergency room doctor came to me and gave me the very grave news that J had 7 lesions on his brain and it was very likely that it was cancer. Immediately several were involved and there our story begins. In the very early hours of the morning, J was transferred to the fifth floor in the Neuroscience D5 intensive care wing. At this point, I was scared out of my mind. The first familiar face I see is no other than Jason Clum. I know Jason from way back because he was a student at Germantown CSD and I worked in the Guidance Office and at the school for years. I ran to him and asked if he worked on this floor and he said yes. To me, that was seeing God!! I told him what we thought was happening and he reassured me that he was in the right place and they would take the best care of my husband.
The next day a biopsy was done of J's lung because of the awful cough. My daughter and I were in Starbucks across the street and I get a phone call from Jason telling me that the Infectious Disease Doctor needs to see me right away. We run back to the hospital and find out J has aspergillus fungus in his lung. The neurosurgeon immediately says we need to biopsy one of the lesions to see if that is what is on his brain as well. He had a craniotomy the following day and sure enough, he has aspergillus on the brain.
During his stay at Albany Med, the nurses in the department were honestly like angels. But Jason went above and beyond for not only my husband but for me as well. He is the kindest, most compassionate, and patient man I have ever met. To make a very long story short, my husband J has been back to Albany Med for five more craniotomy surgeries this past year. Every time he was in Albany Med, he was on the fifth floor and Jason Clum (and the many other wonderful nurses) were simply amazing. The most loving and compassionate people I have ever met. I can't thank them all enough or the kindness they showed both my husband and myself. I am truly grateful for knowing them all and feel so blessed to have had them take such wonderful care of J. Thank you to all of them!
Note: This is Jason's 2nd DAISY Award!