When I arrived at the hospital for my stage 4 hiatal hernia surgery, I was really scared. I had several bad experiences leading up to the surgery, and everything seemed to be telling me not to proceed with it. I had talked with my pastor, my sister who is a spiritual leader in her church, several of my friends who are nurses and medical assistants, my family, etc. They all said I should go with my gut, but if I didn't opt to have this surgery, my shoulder replacement, which had been canceled due to this hernia, would not take place until I had the hernia surgery.

I have to have this shoulder surgery because I am in so much pain, and it was scheduled, but then canceled when they found the hernia. I tried to relax, and as I was getting settled into my room, Kari came in and said she would be getting me ready until the other nurse could get to me, as she was helping other patients. Kari handed me a purple gown with heat/cool vents and explained how to put it on (purple is my favorite color)! Next, I explained how scared I was and all the information about my surgery. She gently took my hand and said it would be ok. She asked about my comfort, and I said I was cool, so she brought me a blanket, a purple one! Things are beginning to look up, I thought.

When I said I had missed my pastor's call and was really worried about praying before the surgery, she held my hand and prayed with me. I asked her if she was a Christian, and she smiled and said, "Yes, I am," and with that, I knew God had given me an angel to relax me. Kari did everything in her power to relax me, checking in often to see if I needed anything and making me feel not only special, but relaxed and ready to "get it done". She smiled as an angel smiles, and that made me smile too.

I wanted her supervisors and above to know that people like this are few and far between nowadays. So many are told not to talk about religion and stick to their medical job. It's because she went above and beyond her "medical position" and treated me with dignity, respect, and could sense the fear and deprivation I was having about this invasive surgery. Suddenly, I was relaxed, and when she left the room, I looked over at my husband and said, "I'm going to be ok, God has given me a signal by putting a nurse like Kari with me."

Now, all the things that seemed to be negative leading up to the surgery became figments of my imagination, and all I can think about now is how awesome Kari made me feel going into that scary operation. I would want her by my side again for surgery.