Playing Nurse

So today I would like to share with y'all my experience with this patient of mine that I dealt with today.

Let's call her Ms. Awesome (why awesome? It was her attitude. You'll see why). She was my 2nd patient of the day and the procedure that we had to do for her was an axilla biopsy. When I saw her this morning, I totally remembered her because I was her nurse when we did her breast biopsy. Prior to seeing her again, I looked up her medical records and read the results of the breast biopsy. I frowned. Not good. She's positive for breast cancer. A pretty invasive and aggressive one too :(

Anyways, when I walked in and saw her face, I totally remembered her and said, "Hey, I remember you!" She was like, "Yeah you were my nurse last time!" I go on and explained the procedure to her and did some Q & As for her. She had this really upbeat and this I-am-Not-Scared-of-this-Shit attitude regarding her recent diagnosis. She was very positive and is ON it regarding her care and appointments.  She told me, "Girl, I'm ready for this. I'm 50 years old, I'm still young. I can fight this."

Then I was just being a big mouth (I like to talk to my patients... In a way, it's my version of stress control for them aka distraction) and told her that I'm doing a Susan G Komen Race for the Cure 5K, and her response really got me. Made me more proud of what I do as a nurse. 

She said (even though it's pretty simple), "Rima, thank you. Thanks for doing that. What you're doing is pretty awesome. Thank You."

I was stunned. Her simple answer made my day. 

For a moment, I was so grateful for the profession that I'm doing. This is why I'm a nurse. To make a difference in a person's life... even though, in her case, I'm doing it indirectly to her... More for her disease process.

After the whole biopsy, after giving her discharge instructions and signing papers, I walked her out to the lobby. She said, "Thanks for making that whole process as painless as possible and making me feel very comfortable. And girl, even though you're gonna walk that race, I really appreciate what you're doing for the cancer!"  

Right there... is the reason why I'm a nurse. 

So Ms. Awesome, I'm dedicating my 5K race for you too. You and that Ms. Big Brave Heart.

Let's fight this evil disease.

If you like to donate for this cause (It's tax deductible) click here. I'm doing the 5K with the Pillow (yay) and his work company.