Lisa is an amazing nurse who strives to connect with her patients and family. Our daughter has been on a medical journey for most of her 16 years. Lisa was our first nurse on the neurosurgical floor following surgery to remove a baseball-sized brain tumor from our then two-year-old. We vividly remember her kindness as we dealt with this diagnosis, her medical expertise in caring for a child in this situation and her obvious care for our daughter. Several years later, our daughter was diagnosed with a seizure disorder and required care on the neurology floor. To our surprise and relief, Nurse Lisa was there to welcome and care for us yet again, in an extremely difficult time. Over the next two years, our daughter needed three extensive brain surgeries. In that part of our journey, Lisa was also there caring for us. And still is today. Lisa is one of the reasons why Cincinnati Children's feels like a second home to us.
Lisa has made our daughter feel comfortable through each step of this journey, explaining the most difficult and scary things imaginable to her. She listens, she celebrates her successes both medically and otherwise. Lisa connects to our life, asking questions and getting to know her personally; I'm not quite sure how she remembers the details from visit to visit! We now connect as mothers, sharing common life experiences. Lisa cares for and makes our entire family feel valued. Lisa makes sure we understand procedures and treatments, answering questions with knowledge and patience.
Throughout the years, Lisa has gone above and beyond to figure out ways to make our daughter comfortable, whether it was pain management or preparing us for the next steps in treatment and surgeries. She is knowledgeable about current, cutting edge treatments in the ever-changing practice of medicine, especially in the treatments for epilepsy. It is beneficial for us to have more knowledge as we navigate our daughter's sometimes uncertain medical conditions.
Following her first brain surgeries, we were moved from ICU to the neurosurgery floor. We were frightened, facing diagnoses no parent should ever have to hear. We immediately felt care and concern from Lisa. She embraced our family, especially our daughter. I was a first-time mom and so fearful of hurting her post-surgery. Our daughter had dried blood and iodine on her and hadn't had a bath since surgery. Lisa showed me how to bathe and care for the incision that ran down the entire side of her head. Her encouragement and warmth are something I will never forget. I knew our daughter had the best possible care when Lisa worked with us. She took time, not frightening or hurting her; it was quite obvious that she felt and still feels safe when Lisa is our nurse.
Preparing for and following our daughter's brain surgeries at 11 years old, it was a daunting and challenging time for me and my husband and we had to make many decisions often quickly. Lisa was there to hear us, to help us know what the next steps would be and what to expect. Our daughter was hospitalized for 5 weeks during this part of her journey. As she initially recovered on the neurology floor, Lisa was there, ensuring we had the necessary information and resources available to us as she recovered. We will never forget her kindness and care.