Wanda Penn
August 2015
Wanda
Penn
,
RN
Med/Surg
OSF St. Mary Medical Center
Galesburg
,
IL
United States

 

 

 

In August I was a resident on the 3rd floor for several days. I had presented with no idea that I had cancer. I ended up with a tumor removal and a bowl resection. This thrust me into the new "fun" world of ostomies.

Wanda was so kind so gentle and so informative about the ostomies, how they were very different from each other and how I needed to care for them in such a temperate way. Her calmness and her self-control made me feel the same. Never did she enter or leave my room without a happy disposition and a generosity in her attitude. Not once.

Now months later I am post-chemo and talked my way into reconstructive surgery. I repeatedly asked for the surgeons and staff to make my temporary address the 3rd floor again. I was hoping and expecting to see the nurses and staff that had helped me so much in the fall. Sure enough Wanda was one of them, and I was so pleased.

I wasn't her assignment often, but I was glad to see that her same cheerful disposition was still what showed up in my room. I could see plainly how genuine this positive outlook is in her. She made both of my stays on floor 3 a calming experience, and I oh so needed just that.