At my pre-op appointment the week before our recent snow storm of the century, I asked my surgeon what would happen if the weather made the roads too dangerous for hospital staff to make it in on the day of my surgery. Void of expression in her face or tone, she replied that that simply was not a thing.
Just after the snow storm ended but while the roads were still dicey, I spent 6 days at UT Medical Center. The first day was spent in a 12 hour long prophylactic surgery (double mastectomy and immediate reconstruction/DIEP flap) performed by two remarkable female surgeons. I would spend the next 3 days in the ICU during which at least one night was a full moon.
I’ve had 6 other surgeries in my lifetime, but none compared to this one. Going into it, I understood as much as I wanted to about the clinical aspects of what I was to experience. But nothing could have prepared me for what felt like a prolonged divine encounter.
During my stay, I received care from over 40 medical professionals, most of whom were nurses and likely younger than my son or slightly older than my daughter. Much of the time I was either sedated or asleep. Visitation was limited. The room was usually dim or dark. I was at my most vulnerable in every way possible. I was aware of my situation and surroundings yet felt as if I were an observer from outside of my own body.
The attention I received from these tenderhearted total strangers invoked in me an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I will keep the specifics to myself, but whether they were monitoring me from behind the glass or directly over me, I was awash in love. I have wept uncontrollably many times over since as I relive the beauty of these simple acts of humanity that were, in fact, sublime.
I asked a few nurses what they did to get to work during the snow storms. I was told that over 600 slept overnight at the hospital the night prior. Others were retrieved from their homes by security if they could not make it in on their own. They slept on gurneys, recliners, dental chairs and whatever else they could find, some for multiple nights in a row.
I only thought I’d gained an appreciation for nurses during Covid. The inherent demands of their calling (medical knowledge, compassion, swift thinking, 12-hour shifts, physical labor, emotional drain and much more) are not meant for ordinary people but for God’s angels. Though I will likely never see any of them again, I want them to know that I am forever changed by the compassion and love they gave to me so freely.
Life is truly beautiful.
Trina Baughn 
Been following and praying. Continued positive recovery. My daughter-in-law was here from SC and had to go to our small hospital for gall bladder surgery,as soon as surgeon could get out of his driveway. Everything turned out fine.