May 2019
Theresa
Pham
,
RN
ICU
Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center
San Diego
,
CA
United States

 

 

 

My wife suffered a very large stroke and she is only 35. We have been in ICU for the last 5 days waiting for swelling in her brain to go down. For my wife, this is an extremely frustrating and difficult time. She is conscious of most things going on around her but cannot act upon them or speak if she needs something. Tonight I noticed she was extremely agitated and moving/kicking so much she could barely sleep. I told Theresa about it and she spent nearly an hour of her time to clean and bathe my wife. Not only that, but braided her hair, used good smelling products, and spent time making her feel like the beautiful and amazing woman that she is during what has been the most terrible ordeal of her life. Theresa's compassion and understanding of what it means to be a woman in my wife's situation, with her husband helplessly watching over her as she can make sense of the world but not act or talk in it, brought tears to my eyes. Not of sadness, but joy as she brought smiles and a sense of womanhood and beauty back to my wife during this terrible injury. She took the time to not only find out what was wrong but make my wife and myself feel human again.