Leah Lahoda
July 2019
Leah
Lahoda
,
RN, BSN
ICU
UPMC Mercy
Pittsburgh
,
PA
United States

 

 

 

My father was flown from another hospital late Wednesday night. Shortly after we arrived a surgeon talked to us about how grim the situation was with my dad. We had to make the very difficult and heartbreaking decision to not have him go through surgery.
He was then moved to ICU for us to decide when to have his breathing tube removed. Leah introduced herself to us when we arrived. She was just so thoughtful, caring and very compassionate. She kept asking us if she could get us anything to eat or drink and if there was anything we needed.
We made the decision to have the breathing tube removed. Once again, Leah was so compassionate with us. She would always smile and check on us every time we were at his bedside.
Leah came to the waiting room to let us know there had been a change with him, she told us he had just passed away. Our strong, active and wonderful father was gone. Leah again asked what she could do for us. She told us to take our time with him, however long we wanted to stay.
This was the hardest thing we have ever been through. As Leah was leaving when her shift ended, she came back in to see us before she left to give us her sympathies. I don't know if she even realized how sweet and caring she was to us. We really appreciated that my dad and we had such a wonderful nurse.
Please let her know what a huge impact she had on us. Cannot say enough about what a blessing Leah was to us in this terrible time.