{"id":34599,"date":"2020-10-28T00:01:42","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T06:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=34599"},"modified":"2023-08-10T09:02:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T15:02:05","slug":"leslie-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/leslie-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"Leslie Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
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After recovering from her tonsillectomy, Lucy returned to UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital in August 2019 to thank nurse Leslie Essay. Photo by Robert Allen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nurse celebrates birthday by solving 2-year-old\u2019s predicament<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When 2-year-old Lucy needed an especially challenging blood draw to answer big questions about her health, pre-admission nurse Leslie Essay found a way.<\/p>\n

It meant going to work at 6 a.m. on her day off, on her birthday, at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my goodness, she was so far above and beyond to take care of Lucy and make this happen,\u201d said Lucy\u2019s mother, Megan. \u201cIt was such a gift to our family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucy is small for her age. She\u2019s comparable in size to a 10-month-old, her mother said. She has low muscle tone, and special blood testing was needed to help determine whether she might have muscular dystrophy or an array of metabolic disorders.<\/p>\n

Accurate results required a blood draw with a short tourniquet time, a tough task involving a little child with tiny veins. Three attempts at other hospitals were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Lucy had a tonsillectomy scheduled at PVH. In the days before surgery, Essay, as her pre-admission nurse, spoke by phone with Megan several times. She learned of the trouble the family was having with the blood draw.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a mom, you\u2019re just trying your best to find answers, to provide the best life you can for your child \u2013 so I just went for it,\u201d said Essay, who has two daughters of her own.<\/p>\n

She arranged to have the blood taken before surgery, after Lucy was sedated. The gas used for anesthesia causes blood vessels to widen. And with Lucy asleep, the needle stick would be \u201cone less traumatic thing she would\u2019ve had to endure,\u201d Essay said.<\/p>\n

The eight blood samples required special handling, so Essay ran three practice drills with lab staff to prepare. Overall, she coordinated among about seven people, including the anesthesiologist, physician, operating room nurse, lab staff and others.<\/p>\n

She credits them for helping: \u201cI couldn\u2019t have done it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

When surgery day arrived, Essay was there to welcome Lucy as well as to see the blood draw through.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe made sure Lucy was comfortable, struck up a little friendship with her, made sure Lucy wasn\u2019t scared,\u201d Megan said. \u201cShe could have been like, \u2018I\u2019m not gonna be here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Essay previously worked in the operating room, so she knew how to work with the staff there. An operating room nurse drew the blood, then Essay collected the tubes to hand deliver them, on ice, to the lab staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all just went super smooth,\u201d Essay said.<\/p>\n

And the test results brought relief for the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to rule out the worst of it \u2013 that it\u2019s not a neurological problem,\u201d Megan said. \u201cWithout these labs, we wouldn\u2019t have been able to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucy is in better overall health since the tonsillectomy. And she was full of energy when she visited the hospital a few weeks later to thank her nurses with greeting cards and flowers.<\/p>\n

Essay, who\u2019s been a nurse for 16 years, said she treats every patient the way she\u2019d treat a family member. So the decision to help this family came easily.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started my birthday amazing, doing something great,\u201d she said. \u201cWe all have this in our personal life \u2013 that you know that people could go an extra step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Essay added that, when such opportunities arise: “It may mean more than what you think it does to the other person.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
<\/span><\/p>\n

You Make Extraordinary Possible<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Together, we recognize and honor the qualities within ourselves by shining a spotlight on how each and every one of us improve lives in big ways and small.<\/span><\/p>\n

Share a story<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nurse celebrates birthday by solving 2-year-old\u2019s predicament When 2-year-old Lucy needed an especially challenging blood draw to answer big questions about her health, pre-admission nurse Leslie Essay found a way. It meant going to work at 6 a.m. on her day off, on her birthday, at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital. \u201cOh my goodness, she was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2242,"featured_media":34601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"on","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Relevanssi image attachment filter Relevanssi index exclude","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4826],"class_list":["post-34599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-you-make-extraordinary-possible"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLeslie Essay - 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