I went to a St. Elizabeth Urgent Care and was referred to the St. Elizabeth Emergency Room in Edgewood. I was suffering from some pain in my torso, and a mass was discovered in my abdomen. I was admitted in Edgewood where a second mass was discovered. I underwent CT scans, an ultrasound, an MRI, and at least four blood draws for various testing. Two days later, I underwent surgery to remove one of the potentially cancerous masses. My care continued until when I was finally released for the time being.
Over the course of those five days, I saw countless doctors, physician assistants, nursing managers, registered nurses, certified nurse assistants, transporters, housekeepers, clergy, and many more. I cannot possibly remember everyone's names.
Despite my wife's tremendous assistance on a daily basis, her visiting hours were somewhat limited due to the presence of COVID/Coronavirus. I vividly remember the day that medical opinions shifted towards a potentially cancerous scenario. I choked out words like, "I don't deserve this" and "it's not fair" and "I don't want to die". Several times during that very bad day, RN Tori Duncan witnessed my tears. She literally held my hand. She tried to help me to rationalize the situation. She constantly came into my room to check on me, only to return shortly thereafter, and do it all over again. Tori was a lifesaver.
As a supervisor working in a totally different profession, I can often tell when employees genuinely care about something, or when they are just going through the motions, so to speak. Tori cared. In my humble opinion, she went above and beyond during one of the worst days of my life. I may still have a long way to travel along the road to treatment and recovery, but I will do so with absolute trust and amazement at the quality and dedication of the nursing staff at St. Elizabeth.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.