My son is 8 years old and has epilepsy and autism. He went through a time when his medicine caused his liver to react poorly, and he was feeling very sick. He ended up inpatient at UIHC, where we had many caring nurses and staff. I want to give a shout-out to Brooke, who worked on Thursday for 12 hours.

Brooke checked in on my son at least every hour. She was cheerful and worked to gain his trust even though he was ornery and in full fight mode. She made sure to do everything she could for his comfort. Brooke was told his IV would not draw. But she checked it herself before asking the lab to come in and poke him again. She was able to draw labs from his IV, so he didn't have to go through the discomfort of another needle poke.

The best story about Brooke is that she found an inventive way to motivate him to take his medicine. She suggested crushing his tablet, dissolving it in apple juice, and drawing it into a syringe. It made medicine time stress-free and gave me hope that we can keep him on his medications to prevent seizures. For reference, my son had vomited his medication every day for a week. We have had major stress over getting medication into him and have had to re-dose at least once a day for more than a week. But because of Brooke's idea, he was able to take his medication without vomiting or even gagging. I am so grateful that there are such caring nurses at UIHC.