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The Unnamed Nurse who Saved My Life During Breast Cancer
Key Takeaways
- A nurse's exceptional composure and skill were crucial during a patient's severe post-mastectomy infection, highlighting the importance of nursing in critical care situations.
- The patient's gratitude emphasizes the profound impact healthcare professionals can have, even when their names remain unknown to those they help.
I’ll never forget the unnamed nurse who stayed calm and gentle while treating me during a dangerous post-surgery infection that could have ended my life.
I’ve worked with numerous doctors and nurses throughout my cancer years (2011 to present), they have all been reliable, helpful and kind. However, one nurse stands out as being extraordinary. Since it was Nurse Appreciation Week, I’d like to honor this woman, whose name I don’t even know.
After I had a double mastectomy, my incisions got infected, and I became very ill. I remember the night I went to the emergency room for this issue. I was standing in my bathroom, looking at my chest in the mirror. I could see that my breast area was beet red and hot to the touch. I remember saying to myself, “Something isn’t right here.” Then, I got in the car and drove myself to the local emergency room, which was about a mile away. At this point, it was 2 a.m. in the morning, and I didn’t want to wake up my husband, who had to go to work in a few hours.
The emergency staff took me back immediately and began to work on the problem. At this point, my temperature was 105 degrees, the highest it’s ever been. Since I was so sick, they had to work quickly, setting up an IV in through my port. The nurse, whose name I don’t know, was attempting to do this, as I was crying and carrying on due to the extreme illness running through my body. This nurse possessed single-mindedness and grit that allowed her to do her job without panicking, even though I had definitely hit the panic button. They needed to draw blood from me because they needed to investigate what infection was coursing through me so that they could give me the proper drug to counteract it. The nurse not only had to concentrate on making the connection with the port, but she also had to focus on keeping me under control emotionally and physically. I had to sit still for her to do her work, but I was delirious and was moving around excessively.
Finally, she got the IV in, and the investigation of my infection began.
If there’s one thing I know to be true, it’s that I could never be a nurse. The nurse who worked on me that night was profoundly gifted. She could keep her cool during very grave instances. And she was gentle. At no point did she hurt me in the process of trying to assist me. If I could meet her again face to face, I would say “thank you” for your service to me and for saving my life at a time when I could have perished.
Well, I did get over the infection, and now, it’s almost ten years later. I am reminded of the popular phrase, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Again, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that brilliant nurse.
God bless her healing hands.
God bless her insightful mind.
God bless her noble work ethic.
She was divine, and I am so grateful for her — the unnamed nurse, who is in a way anonymous, yet so personal. She is on my list of the top three healers in my life. Also included in this list are my oncologist and my cancer surgeon, whose names I do know. What a trio!
And they were just doing their jobs.
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