I found out I had a big cancerous mass on one of my kidneys and had to have the kidney removed. After surgery, I had a nurse friend come to check on me. I have worked at Integris for 34 years. Tonya had previously worked with me in the surgery Preop area. She has shown to be very knowledgeable with our patients and with different scenarios that have come up. She has also worked in the Cath Lab and has a lot of nursing skills. I have seen her be so loving with our patients, and she always goes the extra mile to make sure they have the best care and a wonderful experience.

For me, I got to experience that loving care firsthand! She was there for me in recovery, waking up. She came to check on me daily and gave my husband her number to call for anything. He felt like he needed her when I transferred from the ICU to a room because I started panicking and having chest pains and arm pains. She knew my history of pulmonary embolisms and helped the floor nurses with me. My arm had intense pain because, for a few hours during surgery, they had pulled my arm over my head, and when the pain medication wore off, I was in severe pain to move my arm up or down; nothing made it better. It was happening at the same time as having bad chest pain, where I didn’t know if I was having a heart attack or PE. She helped get me a lidocaine patch for my shoulder and massaged it for me.

The nicest, most caring thing she did that made a big difference for me is that she came in and took the time to get my hair out of a tangled mess. She got it combed out and put braids in. She became very personable like family and helped me to the bathroom to wash off with a warm cloth on my back, arms, and legs that felt so good. My back had a heat rash or something like that from having a fever and lying flat. It just made me feel better and cared for. I want to say Thank You so much for the extra care and for making me feel loved.