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as told by Michele Dwyer
 eing a patient is difficult, but it is especially hard for a nurse; we prefer to be at the bedside, not in the bed. I’m no exception. I am a Labor & Delivery/ Postpartum RN who, last April, was preparing for the birth of my fourth child. Even though my husband, Tim, and I already had three healthy daughters, we were still nervous about our pending delivery. We tried to put our worries to rest. After all, we knew my co-workers would provide wonderful care. We didn’t know, however, that they would have such a profound impact on our family.
 Though our son, Jakob, was delivered via an unexpected C-Section, he seemed very healthy (and big, at 10 lb. 5 oz.). All had gone smoothly, or so we thought. Two hours after delivery I suddenly suffered a life-threatening postpartum hemorrhage that resulted in an emergency hysterectomy and landed me in ICU for three days.
I would love to say that this is where all the “bad stuff” ended, but it didn’t. While I was in surgery, Jake began to have unexplained, lengthy seizures and was taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. In just a few hours Tim and I had gone from joy to sheer terror. My husband was left to wander from ICU to NICU wondering who he needed to stay with the most.
A week after delivery I was finally stable enough to be discharged. Jake remained in the NICU until he was two weeks old, and then was able to come home. The months since his birth and our ordeal have been some of the hardest. We’ve cried many tears, though not all have been tears of sadness. Despite Jake’s diagnosis of neonatal stroke and his uncertain prognosis, he has made great strides and is a very happy boy. I am back at work, which was a tough adjustment for a while, but my co-workers have been there for me again, this time with words of encouragement, hugs and patience. It makes me proud to be part of such a great group.
As I thanked people for all they did, the response was often the same: “I was just doing my job.” We may view what we do in caring for patients as “just our job,” but I can tell you, the jobs you did saved my son’s life as well as mine. You are heroes to me. |