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Mother expresses gratitude for daughter's care Editor's note: The following is excerpted and edited from a letter to Dr. Charles Darby, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics. It describes the writer’s experience when her daughter, Juliana, was admitted to MUSC: Dear Dr. Darby: From the get-go, I felt great about where we were, and a large part of  the tone was indeed set by the ER nurse, whose name I do not remember. (She had short hair and I believe spoke with either an Australian or New Zealand accent.) She stayed with us through EVERYTHING, providing my husband and me with much needed continuity and support, enabling us to be stronger than we imagined we could be.      Dr. Webb was awesome and proved to be critical in getting things moved along at lightening speed.  Luck was  smiling upon us as we ran into the people we needed to, one right after  another.     Before you knew it, we had Dr. Tecklenburg and Dr. Hebra on board in trying to figure out what was going on. As a result we were able to rule out the most worrisome possibilities first, then work our way back to the less serious ones.    Off to ultrasound we went where we met up with Dr. Hill. Within moments, with the help of her technicians, Dr. Hill was able to rule out, almost immediately, the possibility of surgery. In spite of this Dr. Hebra stayed close by.    The ER nurse helped get us settled into the room.  There Jay and I were introduced to two outstanding people—Juliana’s nurse Joanne and resident Raj Amin(?). I cannot say enough nice things about them. Not only could one see the joy in/of what they were doing, but the warmth and concern were genuine, the knowledge outstanding, and the accessibility superb. They were REAL people who clearly LOVED what they were doing — they weren’t “clinical.”     My husband and I had tons of questions and each one was treated with respect, whether or not it had been asked before. Answers were as complete as they possibly could be.    The speed with which we got lab results was incredible—truly amazing. You could see the pain Joanne experienced each time she needed to do something to Juliana.  (She did make it up to her through the presentation of Bear Ball who does not leave my daughter’s side.) I regret we were not able to tell Dr. Amin how much we appreciated his efforts and how lucky we were to have him on board.    Lily, Juliana’s night nurse, stayed with  her as I walked to Calhoun St. to get coffee. Imagine my surprise and utter joy when upon my return, she was sitting up in her crib, something I was not able to get her to do.  At that point, I knew we would be all right.   The funny thing is, Dr. Darby, we saw this spirit throughout the hospital. EVERYBODY had it—the person in charge of the desk, dietary, environmental services, etc.  I  think Juliana’s case or social worker overheard a conversation and thought I was concerned about the insurance kicking in as it should.  She stopped me as I passed by and told me not to worry—that things had been taken care of or would be.    The personnel on 8D were no different, making for a seamless transition to the step-down unit. Juliana’s nurse the first day, Anne, was phenomenal in her attentiveness and willingness to make things as comfortable as she could.     Her night nurse understood my anxiousness about wanting to keep her off monitors so she would be more comfortable and maybe sleep some. There was no “attitude” as one might expect when I requested something different for Juliana’s meals in hopes of coaxing her to eat.  The floor secretary was only too glad to take care of it and did so quickly. (Dietary even allowed me to snatch a biscuit from another tray when the muffin proved to be a disaster.) She also helped with getting hold of various people and sped along our discharge as best she could.     The resident, Dr. LaDonna Hite chased down answers for me, one right after another. Even though we knew surgery was not indicated, Dr. Hebra’s associate Dr. Adamson checked in with us constantly. Both Dr. Adamson and Dr. Williams have the patience of saints, as I was constantly grabbing them for one thing or another.    One time I saw a dolphin balloon go by and made an innocent comment about how I needed to get one for Juliana’s room. My father was there when we returned from the Atrium, and a dolphin had mysteriously appeared, courtesy of Dr. Adamson. I broke down and cried. I cried for a variety of reasons but mainly because that dolphin symbolized the human touch.   Dr. Darby,  please forgive the length of this letter as I know you are an extremely busy man. I felt it was important, however, to thank those whose names I did remember and to give you as much detail as I could for those I did not, so they knew their kindness and professionalism were equally appreciated. MUSC was and is a happy place due in large part to the wonderful personnel who work there. The Atrium’s staff proved to be vital in helping Juliana begin to return to some semblance of normalcy. It provided a much needed distraction for her from all the poking and prodding that took place.  I am convinced the Atrium did indeed play a large part in her recovery.    So, bravo to you Dr. Darby and your staff  for the wonderful place the pediatric team has built.  Sincerely,  Trudy Antine Forio