Thank you to St. John’s Mercy Medical Center & all their employees |
| Benjamin, Vince, and Teri Stubits would like to thank all
of the employees at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center. We received the
best medical care; we were shown the utmost compassion and care; by not
only those people who were directly involved in caring for Benjamin,
Vince, and Teri, but from everyone we came in contact with.
Unfortunately, we didn’t remember everyone’s name, but we did
remember everyone that was involved in caring for us. We are sorry if we
forgot your name; know that your care is not forgotten.
The cleaning staff and cafeteria workers were also very kind to us. In the WEU (Women’s Evaluation Unit), Teri first encountered a very sweet person that took her name and information and then Terry and Karl took care of her. In Labor & Delivery we don’t remember all the names – there were so many people that cared for us and we were kind of preoccupied. The only names we remember were Carolyn who was our night nurse and Dr. Joyce who was our night resident, probably because they were with us most of the time. There were so many other people that were involved in the delivery and we are sorry we don’t remember them all, but we recognize them when we see them at the hospital. The nurses that took care of Teri after delivery were Carla, Courtney, Julie, and Cathy (and I think Kristi). All of them took great care of Teri and made time to talk to her when her hormones were flaking out and as she and Vince found out different medical concerns with Benjamin. They were also very informative, which we needed because this was our first pregnancy and delivery. In the NICU, the doctors (Dr Jay Brenner and Dr. Mauer) were the main ones that cared for Benjamin. Dr Brenner brought him into the world and Dr Mauer saved him on Day 8 and removed the ventilator so Vince and Teri could hold him without machines as he left us on Day 17. The nurse practitioners, Mary and Marcia, who worked directly with the doctors, were pretty awesome too. Their knowledge and caring made such a difference (unfortunately, we aren’t good with remembering names, but we really appreciate everything you did for us). The technicians (some we met and some we didn’t) all took great care of Benjamin. We remember Chris and Travis, two of his respitory therapists, but there were many more we didn’t meet. Kathy and Maggie have been so awesome in the help and support they provided and are still providing to Vince and Teri. Laura the chaplain also provided great support and compassion to both Vince and Teri from the first day we were in the NICU. Laura was also there to offer comfort to Teri when Benjamin had his bad episode on Day 8, while she waited for Vince to come up. Laura baptized Benjamin for us on Wednesday and really did a great job at the memorial service. The readings she picked out were so perfect for us, as well as her homily. Thank you! In the NICU, Benjamin ended up with the prettiest and sweetest nurses (that is what he told his Dad). Teri made sure she wrote their names down (most of the time) because they did such an awesome job taking care of Benjamin, as well as Vince and Teri. They made sure we understood what care he was receiving and why, what to expect and how he was responding. They taught us so much about premature infants and their care and answered all of our questions even if we asked the same question more than once. We wouldn’t have survived this without their compassion, caring nature, and skills. Some of the nurses had us for only one shift; others took care of us for multiple shifts. We hope we haven’t missed anyone, these are the skilled angels that loved and cared for Benjamin: Laura, Tracy, Mary, Amanda & Taz, Victoria, Yolanda, Janelle, Jayla, Irene, Carrie, Danielle, Karen, Krista, Leslie, Jane, Robin, Debbie, Barb, and Shannon. Benjamin, Vince, and Teri would like to extend a special thanks to Shannon. She shared with us her story and helped us in so many ways to understand and deal with the decisions we had to make for Benjamin. He quickly stole her heart and became her special little friend. We cried together, we loved on Benjamin together, and we cared for Benjamin together. Thank you just doesn’t seem like enough, but thank you Shannon for making the most difficult time in our lives, not be a totally devastating time. We asked Benjamin to tell Gabby what a wonderful person her Mom is! |