I wanted to send a huge thank you to our entire staff on the 1st floor, particularly Eric Gaudet. 
 
The patient was here for EUS-FNA of a subtle lesion in her pancreas, which was very unclear what it was, but one of the concerns was a very early cancer vs just inflammation.  As we got the patient into the procedure room, she had an anxiety attack and wanted to leave and cancel the procedure.  Eric came into the room and calmly talked her through it, and was able to calm her down and convince her to stay and have the procedure.  Our CRNA was also excellent at calming her down and getting her comfortable to continue with the procedure. 
 
I just got the biopsy results today, and it did show pancreatic adenocarcinoma.  However, this appears to have been caught very early, and she will have a decent chance at surgical removal and possible cure (one of the very few times we actually have a real chance of a cure for pancreatic cancer).  Had she left and not come back, it likely would have spread and become incurable.  Thanks to the actions of Eric and the rest of the staff, it’s possible this early diagnosis could save her life.
 
I called the patient today to give her the news, and while sad about the diagnosis, she was so incredibly grateful and appreciative of the care we gave her.  To quote her directly, she said, “You and your staff were the nicest people I’ve met in my life.  Thank you for doing what you do.  I can’t thank you enough for how well you treated me."