Our son had been a patient in the PICU for more than a month and was in a very critical state. Nurse Lily made a great impact on his care. With all the amazing work she had done, we especially appreciated her during the time leading up to our son’s tracheostomy and g-tube operation. Our entire family was extremely anxious and overwhelmed with so much information and the uncertain future ahead of us. Sensing our worry, she took it upon herself to take extra steps in educating us on the facts of my son’s case by providing us with helpful resources and giving us a clearer picture of what his long-term care would be like to lessen our anxiety.

Observing that our son had an affinity for dinosaurs (with the clothes and beanie he was wearing), she surprised us with printed and personally colored artwork of a dinosaur labeled “TRACHEOsaurus” with the text “strongest dinosaur” and posted it at our son’s bedside. Our entire family was so touched and inspired by what she had done that some family members got tattoos of the TRACHEOsaurus dinosaur, or ones inspired by it, following my son’s successful operation. That was just one of the many cases where Nurse Lily personalized our Baby C’s care. She would also play the Angry Birds song during our son’s daily baths, knowing that this was his favorite and made Angry Birds artwork too, with texts “You Are So Strong” and “Keep Up the Great Work,” which she posted at his bedside.

In her own way, Nurse Lily brought positivity and hope at a time of pain and grief to our family. She made sure to get to know her patient and the family so she could go the extra mile in providing that specialized, personalized care and help us navigate such a difficult time.