Dear CCHC: Patient Letters Express Gratitude
Grateful patients and family members write in to share heartfelt thanks for excellent, compassionate care.
Daughter shares high praise for her mother’s exceptional care at Cape Cod Hospital
Dear Mr. Lauf,
My 98-year-old mother, Joan M. Phillips, had a short stay at Cape Cod Hospital just before Christmas. It was a very positive experience for us both.
As a retired RN and APRN myself, I was thrilled to encounter so many caring, kind and compassionate staff members. Adrienne Sullivan, RN, was my mother’s nurse in the ER on Dec. 17, 2022. She was very attentive to my mom’s needs and comfort. She was wonderfully kind and warm and patient with Mom, who is partially blind and quite deaf. The tests required were done in short order, and it was not long before the hospitalist was giving us some difficult, but not surprising, news. We knew Mom had two small lesions in her lungs since a hospitalization last spring. The new CAT scan documented a dramatic increase in the size of those, and more which had spread through her lungs and into the lymph nodes. The plan was to admit her, so they could drain some of the fluid that was impacting her breathing. It was explained to us that this fluid is due to metastatic lung cancer, and it would more than likely continue to accumulate.
When we got to Mugar 6, Keaton Burgell was her admission nurse. He was both gentle and kind as he did a thorough assessment and got her settled in with a warmed blanket. There were three more exceptional nurses who cared for Mom: Sarah Gould from the day shift understood that Mom had great difficulty hearing and made the effort to speak up clearly. When Mom still struggled, she would step back to lift her mask a moment, so Mom could read her lips. Danielle Nasri was her night nurse, and Mom felt safe and connected with her immediately, telling Danielle that she looked so much like her granddaughter, who was also a nurse.
On the last two days, before discharge to home on hospice care, her nurse was Wayne Paini. He too was a warm and caring provider, who spoke up so Mom could hear, and he was patient with her delayed processing as she was trying to answer his question or ask one of her own.
There were others who were very kind, including Rodney who worked at the desk. After hearing that Mom was unable to take a shower or wash her hair, he brought in a few shampoo caps used with bed-bound patients and they were a godsend.
Dr. Selinger was her hospitalist, and he was wonderful, explaining everything to Mom so that she could understand the plan for her care and the purpose for the procedure. He suggested leaving in a drain, as the fluid would continue to accumulate as part of the disease process and this would help her breathe easier. He also referred us to VNA Hospice care, and they have been terrific from the first day’s encounter. I was very impressed by these outstanding caregivers, and they certainly made her stay go as well as humanly possible.
It has been said that nurses communicate with their eyes, heal with their hands and comfort by their presence. These caregivers certainly did!
Sincerely,
Linda Mayers
Cape Cod Hospital team made a major procedure feel . . . not so major
Dear Michael,
Over the past six years, I have been dealing with a stubborn form of cancer that just won’t quit. Well, the medical team at Cape Cod Hospital has not quit, either. Dr. Jeffrey Spillane, Dr. Jose Reyes, Dr. Peter Ward and Dr. Jeffrey Martin and their incredible teams, have provided me with exceptional care.
Recently, I had a procedure done by Dr. Jeffrey Spillane which required me to spend two nights at CCH. The care I received from the CNAs, RNs, Dr. Spillane and his team of interns was kind, caring and professional. They made a major procedure feel . . . not so major.
In every organization, it’s the people that make the difference, and the medical field may be one of the most extraordinary examples of that, for if a poor decision is made, or a procedure not followed, there can be serious consequences to human life.
I have spent a good deal of time at CCH over the past 15 years, and every time I walk through the door, I feel confident I am getting the best care possible.
Please know I am most grateful to you and the wonderful, talented professionals you have throughout the Cape Cod Hospital system.
My sincere thanks,
Steven Ciavola
Falmouth Hospital ER team: Caring and exceptional
Dear Carter,
The ER, Dr. Siegert and his team on the night of November 10 were outstanding. I am sure they saved Dick’s life.
They were able to quickly change course and jump into opening his chest to insert a tube for the bleeding, while calling for med-flight.
It was impressive to watch as a small team of three quickly turned into a team of six or seven, and they were a smooth operation of teamwork—all the while several people, including the doctor, kept us informed of what was going on.
If they don’t already know, I hope you can tell them that because of their work Dick came home nine days later from Boston and has returned to his normal self.
Yes, I know they were “doing their job,” but how wonderful it is that we have in Falmouth such a caring and exceptional medical team.
Every hospital has people who feel negative and positive—I am one who tells everyone who asks how great this team was and that Falmouth Hospital ER saved his life.
—Valerie Harding
Falmouth ER doctors helped patient feel like ‘old self’ again
Dear Mr. Hunt,
On Monday morning, not feeling well, with a persistent cough, I went to the ER. I was introduced to Dr. O’Connell, Regina and Lex—a great medical team, as I soon found out!
I was diagnosed, after a thorough check-up, and sent home with prescriptions.
This morning, Wednesday, I woke up feeling like my “old self!” I am so thankful for this team who took care of me. They treated me professionally and with much kindness and humor!
They’re the BEST.
A very good ER experience that I won’t hesitate to share with my friends.
Fondly, Carole Lavallee
Patient praises outpatient cardiac testing in Falmouth
Dear Michael Lauf and Carter Hunt,
I want to tell you about my excellent experience at your Outpatient Cardiac Testing in Falmouth Hospital.
On November 7, 2022, I was scheduled for a Nuclear Stress Test at Falmouth Hospital. My appointment was at 8:15 a.m. for a three-hour test. I was in the waiting room at 8:05 a.m.
I was a nervous wreck—a bundle of nerves. At 8:15 a.m., Susan opened the door to the waiting room, called my name and introduced herself to me. She then gave me an overview of what would happen in the next three hours. She told me she would be working with Paul, and he would be in shortly to meet me. At this point, I started to relax.
Three hours later, Paul told me the testing was over and I was free to go home. He wished me well and said Susan asked him to pass on her good wishes to me. She was busy with another patient.
Susan and Paul did such a wonderful job bringing me through the stress test—even when I had a negative reaction to the nuclear medication and Susan had to administer medicine to fight my reaction. I felt I was in very competent hands, and I was relaxed.
If I ever need a nuclear stress test again, I would pray that I got another Susan and Paul. I cannot thank them enough for the wonderful care they gave me during that three-hour test.
Sincerely,
Florence Farrar
Patient expresses gratitude for caregivers at JML
Dear Ms. Pino,
I recently was a patient of JML facility where I received such great care and I wanted to express my thanks to all the caregivers I encountered.
I had several fractures and was in a great deal of pain. My stay was also complicated by pulmonary embolism, which required a return to Falmouth Hospital. I cannot praise your staff enough for the response I received. I am most grateful for the excellent care I received from each and every person. Falmouth is most fortunate to have such a high-quality facility.
Kudos to all,
Ann Dunnigan
VNA staff: ‘They are the salt of the Earth!’
Dear VNA,
Kindly extend my sincere thank you to the OT, PT and NA that helped me when I was home from RH. I can’t thank them enough for all they do, and for all they are! They are the salt of the Earth! God loves them. I do, too.
Antonia Proulx
Mashpee
Thankful for VNA therapist Matt Howard after husband’s knee surgery
My husband had knee surgery in August. We were very fortunate to have Matt Howard at the VNA as his therapist. His care was excellent!
Thank you,
Diane Poyant
Yarmouth Port
To all the ‘great’-hearted people of McCarthy Care Center
This little card does not fit all the appreciation I have for the folks at your facility, but I will try! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping my sister as she transitioned to eternity. I am forever grateful for your kindness and sincerity.
Cheryl Hansen
Whitman, Massachusetts
Daughter expresses thanks to VNA team for kindness and care during mom’s final days
Dear Friends of VNA,
We want to thank you so very much for the kind and gentle way you helped my mom live her final months and days in her own home surrounded by familiar things and by her loved ones—with dignity. We cannot think of a better way to leave this world. Thank you and God bless you all. We want to let those who cared for mom directly know that we came to look forward to seeing you and we came to care for you. And mom loved seeing you. Saying a special thanks to Debbie A. and her team: Linda, Lori, Ann, Carol, Perry, Marcy and others. May God richly bless you for the loving care you showed us-- especially mom.
Fondly,
Linda Beals for my dad, Charlie Pilla, and our family
Dennis
Thank you to McCarthy staff for loving guidance
Dear Maura and staff at McCarthy,
We thank you for the loving care you showed my husband, Stephen, in his last hours of life on Earth. Your loving guidance was so helpful to his son, Erich, stepdaughter Laura, and myself through Steve’s special end-of-life passage.
With gratitude and love,
Rosemary Fassett
Falmouth
Sending a note of appreciation—and apples—to Dr. Zanfes and staff
Dear Dr. Zanfes,
We want you to know how much we appreciate you and your kind staff and how well you treated the three of us. We are also so happy that you took us on as your patients. Thank you very much. We hope you enjoy some of the apples we picked from Glastonbury, Connecticut. The apples taste good, and we are happy that “an apple a day will keep the doctor away”-- even though we like you very much!
Gratefully yours,
Michael, Ferne and Tate Pasternak
Grateful for Dr. Zanfes’ compassion and A+ bedside manner
Dear Dr. Zanfes,
A week ago today, I had the privilege of meeting you. I consider myself lucky. Also I’m truly grateful for the time you took with me to discuss my health. I hope you never lose your A+ bedside manner. As I said to you last week, you are so good for Cape Cod. Please continue your superb listening skills as well as your compassion. Finally, a note of gratitude for nurse Charissa for her kindness as well. Best of everything to you both!
—Audeliz Allaine
