I arrived at Midland Memorial Hospital for two procedures that I have been postponing for years because of fear and doubts. When my swallowing problem became a substantial concern to my wife and me, she became even more persuasive for me to make the appointment, and I did. I arrived at Midland Memorial Hospital and the whole time I was nervous and concerned about the procedures. I was triaged and soon after a nurse came to the waiting room and called out my name. She took me to the room to get ready for my procedure.

I was laying there in my bed with an I.V. in my arm waiting for my procedure to begin when an employee by the name of David Shaw came to see me. He told me that he would oversee taking me into the room for my procedures. He stood by my bedside and asked me several questions and asked if I had any for him, but I didn’t. I can only assume that Mr. Shaw could tell that I was nervous about the procedure because he started small talk with me. He told me about his hunting dogs and how they were trained. He even showed me a picture of one of them that was wearing a diaper, which was so funny, I almost forget about how nervous I was. Mr. Shaw left but came back to check on me a few more times. I remember him coming to me and telling me a story of a place in Kerrville that he and his wife had gone to. He told me about the cabin (in detail) and the river that ran next to it and how he stayed there for a few days and I was so relaxed. I began to imagine my wife and me at that same location, having breakfast in the morning and going out to the river, and watching the sun come up. This is what changed my thoughts the rest of the time I was there. I will say that I became very much at ease as I thought of being at that place in Kerrville.

Mr. Shaw was very reassuring and when they took me into the procedure room, he took the time to explain every detail of what he was going to do, or put on me, before he did it. I truly was grateful for that. Mr. Shaw probably will never know how much his bedside story meant to me as I was able to enter the procedure area with little to no stress. I was very fortunate to have a nurse who could see through my pain of stress and subside it with ease. His compassionate and thoughtful ways to bring calm into the minds of their patient is not something that is taught, but for him, a gift.

Thank you, Mr. David Shaw, for being there at a time when I needed a calm heart the most and providing a way for me to receive it. I just wanted to let Midland Memorial Hospital know that they have an exceptionally gifted employee, who works for them, and who on Wednesday made a huge difference in my procedure as I was blessed and helped beyond measure.