June 2008
Maria
Crain
,
RN
EUH 7E
Emory University Hospital Midtown
Atlanta
,
GA
United States

 

 

 

The words "melanoma, metastatic, and incurable" launch a patient and their family into a new world. It is not a warm, fuzzy, welcoming world. It offers myriads of tests with alphabet soup names, painful procedures, black holes of waiting and oceans of anxiety. This new world also offers, thankfully, an oasis of comfort, humor, and stellar professional care. This oasis is 7-E and the outstanding nurses Maria Crain, Cristina Gragnaniello, Mike Reden, and Zoila Freeman are the foremost in exemplifying professionalism commitment to providing consistently excellent service, compassionate care and clinical expertise. Maria, Christina, Mike, and Zoila have worked with my husband during his Interleukin 2 treatments. It's a horrendous protocol for the patient; the side effects are pretty much all the worst things you don't want to experience. My husband was not always "Mr. Sunshine" during treatment and I was a crazy person also. Thank goodness for the constant and consistently excellent care given to both of us by Maria, Cristina, Zoila, and Mike. Events of artrial fibrillation, coupled with severe rigors were handled immediately, professionally, and with compassion. "Dry spells" in urinary output were solved with creativity, humor, and patience. Never was my husband's dignity compromised. Cancer world is not a good place to be. Thankfully we have had this amazing team to care for, shepherd, cajole, and lead us through its' rocky terrain. These Nurses epitomize consistent excellence in service, compassionate care, and clinical expertise. They have made our stays at Emory University Hospital absolutely outstanding.