Acacia Smith defines compassion. She entered into my chaos with the calm of a saint, the strength of a lioness, the grace of a pure fighter.
My eyes met hers for the first time when a review of my impending problems was relayed from one nurse to another. It was a change of shift, but for me, it meant another night of unanswered questions. My fever was not going down, and my pain was something that no one mentioned aside from the 1-10 scale. The management had only stayed the same. The opioid epidemic is no doubt sweeping every nook and cranny of anyone not under the veil of death. I was taking Tylenol every 6 hours. Crippling pain, which might be tolerable except for the fact that I had to pee so frequently, every hour, and getting up and down was the worst. I am strong, flexible and determined, yet I felt weak until I met Acacia. She answered questions and fielded answers with humility and patience. When it was her turn to ask, she was so real. She noted all my responses and made really amazing realizations that may work better for me as a patient. She spent time with me and exchanged anecdotes on life, struggles and then we laughed together: about what? Who knows, just the laughter alone lifted me to another level of trust and love; the things that heal.
She gave me options to ward off the pain. She went to someone higher up and fought for me and when she came back into my room an hour later, she was the vision of what it means to be a great nurse. She radiated good news. Acacia made me feel heard, understood and loved. I never needed the extra meds but that's not the point. My DAISY Nurse is the beautiful brown-eyed Acacia who made me feel human by gracing me with her very real curiosity of "how can I help you?" and a humility and understanding of human suffering.