As a 38-year-old wife and mother of two beautiful girls, I received the most devasting news that I would have to have my left kidney removed to continue to be able to take care of my family and live a normal life. I truly thought I was living a bad dream being told these things but realized very quickly that the outcome could have been so much worse.

In the morning in October, I arrived at the hospital bright and early and was greeted with lots of smiling faces, was called back and had my IV started when bam! The power cut off and the backup generators came on. I heard frantic tones in a lot of voices around me but stayed positive. Surgery start times were delayed all day so there was a lot of commotion but something that stood out to me was how awesome everyone was with explaining the situation.

The person that stood out the most to me was Hillary- she was the nurse that was in the recovery room when I came out of surgery. Most times you stay in recovery 45 minutes to a hour. Well, I stayed in recovery for about 4 hours and was treated with the best care. Hillary was very worried about me getting the best care possible with how sick I was and wanted to make sure that she could get me comfortable before moving me to my room. She kept my family aware of everything that was going on and why I was not being moved. She even continued to check in on me through the rest of my stay at the hospital.

Not very many people remember and recognize what the nurses in recovery actually do but I am forever grateful for her and the care she showed to me and my family while I was in her care. She was always smiling, efficient with making sure that I stayed clean considering I had drains coming out of me, and never complained about how long she had to care for me and my situation. Nurses like Hillary are few and far between, and caring for someone in my situation is challenging but Hillary was up for the job and did a exceptional job of it!