Deanna Toloudis
November 2024
Deanna
Toloudis
,
MSN, RN
Hospice Home Care
EvergreenHealth
Kirkland
,
WA
United States
She really listens both with her heart and her mind, and she understands me.
I’m nominating my hospice nurse, Deanna, for the DAISY Award. She is an angel, and truly, she has been a shining star, a guiding light during this time. I can’t imagine dealing with cancer without her. She is honest, compassionate, intuitive, gentle, and kind—just a few of her nursing and human skills. I know that she will tell it like it is because I’ve asked her to.
See, I didn’t think I needed hospice and certainly not a hospice nurse. I told Deanna when we met, “spend time with the patients who need you more, I don’t feel like I’m dying” and she replied, “that’s okay hospice isn’t just about physical needs, it’s emotional, social, and spiritual comfort too. It’s about the whole person”. Turns out she was right. I have never been one to talk a lot, and yet when Deanna visits, I feel like I can’t stop. She really listens both with her heart and her mind, and she understands me.
At one point, I had excruciating pain, and I threw up the pain medicine that was in the comfort kit. Deanna responded right away and made arrangements for me to go to the hospice care center. To my relief, the pain stopped shortly after I got there.
When I was up every hour during the night, unable to urinate, Deanna came over right away and skillfully put a catheter in. Then, when the catheter was uncomfortable, she fiddled around with it, finding softer tubing and a smaller leg bag and making fine adjustments until everything was just right. She never minded that the dog was always a foot away. She nicknamed him “quality control” and said, “Welcome to home health.”
For my 92nd birthday, Deanna worked with the social worker to get me a “travel pass” so I could visit the farm where I grew up for a birthday party with my family. I felt well prepared with my just-in-case supplies and medicines they packed for me. It was one of the best days ever.
I told Deanna that I was ready to go now and asked why there wasn’t just a switch you could turn off. She smiled and replied, “Well, maybe there is one last thing you need to learn.”
It turns out that I did need a hospice nurse after all, and I couldn’t have wished for a better one.
See, I didn’t think I needed hospice and certainly not a hospice nurse. I told Deanna when we met, “spend time with the patients who need you more, I don’t feel like I’m dying” and she replied, “that’s okay hospice isn’t just about physical needs, it’s emotional, social, and spiritual comfort too. It’s about the whole person”. Turns out she was right. I have never been one to talk a lot, and yet when Deanna visits, I feel like I can’t stop. She really listens both with her heart and her mind, and she understands me.
At one point, I had excruciating pain, and I threw up the pain medicine that was in the comfort kit. Deanna responded right away and made arrangements for me to go to the hospice care center. To my relief, the pain stopped shortly after I got there.
When I was up every hour during the night, unable to urinate, Deanna came over right away and skillfully put a catheter in. Then, when the catheter was uncomfortable, she fiddled around with it, finding softer tubing and a smaller leg bag and making fine adjustments until everything was just right. She never minded that the dog was always a foot away. She nicknamed him “quality control” and said, “Welcome to home health.”
For my 92nd birthday, Deanna worked with the social worker to get me a “travel pass” so I could visit the farm where I grew up for a birthday party with my family. I felt well prepared with my just-in-case supplies and medicines they packed for me. It was one of the best days ever.
I told Deanna that I was ready to go now and asked why there wasn’t just a switch you could turn off. She smiled and replied, “Well, maybe there is one last thing you need to learn.”
It turns out that I did need a hospice nurse after all, and I couldn’t have wished for a better one.