Laura Grace
June 2025
Laura
Grace
,
RN
ERAS
Albany Medical Center
Albany
,
NY
United States
She greeted me like an old friend. An old friend who effusively expressed her alarm at what I had gone through, a compassionate yet professional acknowledgement of the pain and trauma I had endured in the preceding months.
I am one of those Problem Patients. I come in. You fix me up. I get broken again. I come back. You fix me up again. Repeat. I first met Laura in September of 2024. I was going to be admitted for bowel resection. I had been repeatedly admitted for severe diverticulitis, and my excellent doctor said it was time to stop the cycle and take out the damaged parts.
Made sense to me. But it was scary. And I knew it would be painful. So, yeah, I was not in great spirits when I first met Laura. She came into the examining room to walk me through what I could expect in the coming weeks. My stiff upper lip wasn't working well that day, and Laura could tell.
We spent most of the interview with her speaking gently and in the most calming manner. No platitudes, not even remotely dismissing my fears and worries. At some point, we started talking about family, and I told her of my great fondness for my son's wife, whom I refer to as my daughter-in-love. I left feeling less scared. Feeling ready to take on this next challenge.
Like I said, I'm a Problem Patient. The surgery went well, but my guts did not cooperate while visiting a friend. I had to be rushed to the hospital and was given an emergency ileostomy. Back to the care of the wonderful Doctor and his excellent staff, I went. As the time approached for the reversal, once again I had an appointment with the pre-admission ERAS team. I sat, I think, in the same examining room, and in came Laura.
She greeted me like an old friend. An old friend who effusively expressed her alarm at what I had gone through, a compassionate yet professional acknowledgement of the pain and trauma I had endured in the preceding months. I felt seen. And heard. And understood. I wasn't nuts. I wasn't a crybaby. My pain was real. My feelings were respected.
Laura, who remembered our initial visit, I suspect she remembers every frightened patient who comes to see her, amazingly, even remembered my daughter-in-love comment, and she shared with me that when her son got married recently, she made a toast to her new daughter-in-love. I have no doubt in my mind that the new member of Laura's family refers to Laura as her mother-in-love.
Made sense to me. But it was scary. And I knew it would be painful. So, yeah, I was not in great spirits when I first met Laura. She came into the examining room to walk me through what I could expect in the coming weeks. My stiff upper lip wasn't working well that day, and Laura could tell.
We spent most of the interview with her speaking gently and in the most calming manner. No platitudes, not even remotely dismissing my fears and worries. At some point, we started talking about family, and I told her of my great fondness for my son's wife, whom I refer to as my daughter-in-love. I left feeling less scared. Feeling ready to take on this next challenge.
Like I said, I'm a Problem Patient. The surgery went well, but my guts did not cooperate while visiting a friend. I had to be rushed to the hospital and was given an emergency ileostomy. Back to the care of the wonderful Doctor and his excellent staff, I went. As the time approached for the reversal, once again I had an appointment with the pre-admission ERAS team. I sat, I think, in the same examining room, and in came Laura.
She greeted me like an old friend. An old friend who effusively expressed her alarm at what I had gone through, a compassionate yet professional acknowledgement of the pain and trauma I had endured in the preceding months. I felt seen. And heard. And understood. I wasn't nuts. I wasn't a crybaby. My pain was real. My feelings were respected.
Laura, who remembered our initial visit, I suspect she remembers every frightened patient who comes to see her, amazingly, even remembered my daughter-in-love comment, and she shared with me that when her son got married recently, she made a toast to her new daughter-in-love. I have no doubt in my mind that the new member of Laura's family refers to Laura as her mother-in-love.