This week, I arrived at work to find a neatly printed memorial booklet on the desk at the nurse's station.
I looked at it closely and found the name to be a familiar one: my very first patient had passed away.
Working as an oncology nurse, it was not unexpected that sooner or later, some of my patients will pass away.
Unlike my other patients, I saw this man's treatment from start to finish. He and his wife came from out of town to visit a friend for his child's Christening or Baptism. I don't remember which.
I forget the symptoms that brought this man into the ER initially, but they were certainly not expecting a cancer diagnosis. The patient was admitted to our unit and we began his chemotherapy regimen. He came in walking and talking and as his treatment progressed, he became unable to breathe on his own and was in and out of the ICU.
I hadn't had this man for weeks but I did see his wife in the hallway and talked to her all the time about not just her husband's care but how she was doing and what was new in her life, where the local CVS was, how her dog was and many other things.
She and her husband were wonderful people. While it saddened me immensely to see that he had passed away, witnessing the weeks of unconditional love and support his wife provided made it an honor to know and care for them.
