My mother has been in the Cancer ward of St. Francis for 23 days now. She suffers from metastatic melanoma and her cancer has spread throughout her spinal cord and other distant palaces in her body. Angie Henry has bonded with my mom in a beautiful, special way. Angie has ridden this roller coaster of a month alongside us. We have shared lots of tears and lots of laughter (anyone who knows my mom knows she is ornery, hilarious, and mildly inappropriate when she's feeling like herself). Angie handpicks the night staff for mom when she's not working. She even texts other nurses or messages me on Facebook to check on mom on her days off. Mom lives to make sure that nurses who are new to her have been through, "Angie training."
I have a heartwarming photo of my mom and Angie embracing in a hug. Angie is knelt down beside her bed. The photo is from a particularly hard day. Mom reached out to hug Angie and told her she loved her, and Angie told mom that she loved her back. I 'm so very humbled by the attentiveness, empathy, and hard work that amazing women and men of the St. Francis Cancer ward have shown my precious mother during some of the most difficult weeks of her life.
Last week, Angie was working in the building but was attending training. She stopped by mom's room before, during lunch, and after the training was done. When Angie stopped by on lunch, mom had just lost control of her bowels and had an accident in the bed. The aide was on his way, but Angie took it upon herself to change mom's soiled bed on her own lunch break. To Angie, I want to say Thank you and I love you.