Grace Park
August 2025
Grace
Park
,
MSN,FNP-C
Bone Marrow Transplant
Northside Hospital
Atlanta
,
GA
United States
Her authentic appreciation for my service was the best medicine I could have received, as it brought tears of joy, pride, and a sense of serving a purpose larger than myself that I seemed to have long forgotten.
I have been battling a mild case of CLL for the last two years with great success. I was an inch away from remission when it threw me a haymaker over the period of a month and a half, and eventually landed me at Northside BMT Unit. What a Blessing it has been. I am so grateful to be here.
Since being wheeled through the doors, the entire staff has showered me with love, care, and kindness that is second to none. Enter Grace Park. I have been on a 24/7 chemo drip for about three days, when a new nurse introduced herself. Her name is Grace Park. Grace’s kindness, empathy, compassion, knowledge, and attention to detail were like nothing I have ever seen.
We had an instant connection. As we shared our stories, I learned that Grace had grown up in South Korea and lost her mother to cancer when she was 3 years old. Her mother had cancer while Grace was in her belly, and through the Grace of God, it was not passed to Grace. Through our conversations, Grace had learned I had served in the Army in South Korea from 1992 to 1993. After 32 years, I still remember how to say “Hello, Please, Thank You, and You’re Welcome” in Korean. Her authentic appreciation for my service was the best medicine I could have received, as it brought tears of joy, pride, and a sense of serving a purpose larger than myself that I seemed to have long forgotten.
Grace goes above and beyond in everything she does. She would constantly check my comfort levels, rolling up a towel to ease discomfort in my neck, taking my vital signs, and performing other tasks that were not assigned to her in addition to her own work, to ensure I could receive extra rest and not be woken again in two hours for vitals. She is sharp as a tack, and when she told me she was finishing up her PRN schooling, I was not surprised at all.
When Grace returned the next night, she had brought me a Korean coffee mug and the most gracious thank-you note. She thanked me for my service to her Country. She said it wasn't much; it was all that she had. Grace, it was so much more than that, as it came from your heart, and it is something that I will treasure and hold dear for the rest of my life.
Keep your light shining bright in all you do!
Since being wheeled through the doors, the entire staff has showered me with love, care, and kindness that is second to none. Enter Grace Park. I have been on a 24/7 chemo drip for about three days, when a new nurse introduced herself. Her name is Grace Park. Grace’s kindness, empathy, compassion, knowledge, and attention to detail were like nothing I have ever seen.
We had an instant connection. As we shared our stories, I learned that Grace had grown up in South Korea and lost her mother to cancer when she was 3 years old. Her mother had cancer while Grace was in her belly, and through the Grace of God, it was not passed to Grace. Through our conversations, Grace had learned I had served in the Army in South Korea from 1992 to 1993. After 32 years, I still remember how to say “Hello, Please, Thank You, and You’re Welcome” in Korean. Her authentic appreciation for my service was the best medicine I could have received, as it brought tears of joy, pride, and a sense of serving a purpose larger than myself that I seemed to have long forgotten.
Grace goes above and beyond in everything she does. She would constantly check my comfort levels, rolling up a towel to ease discomfort in my neck, taking my vital signs, and performing other tasks that were not assigned to her in addition to her own work, to ensure I could receive extra rest and not be woken again in two hours for vitals. She is sharp as a tack, and when she told me she was finishing up her PRN schooling, I was not surprised at all.
When Grace returned the next night, she had brought me a Korean coffee mug and the most gracious thank-you note. She thanked me for my service to her Country. She said it wasn't much; it was all that she had. Grace, it was so much more than that, as it came from your heart, and it is something that I will treasure and hold dear for the rest of my life.
Keep your light shining bright in all you do!