Love Is...

See how our caregivers define love every day

...Granting Wishes

All 5-year-old John Mickley II wanted for Christmas was a puppy. Then a few weeks before Christmas, he experienced stomach pain. Doctors discovered a cancerous tumor on his kidney. Within days, John had the tumor and one of his kidneys removed.

While he recovered, colleagues in the pediatric unit helped make his Christmas wish come true. Sue Dreher, R.N., called her veterinarian, who connected her with Sue Rittenhender, a local dog breeder. Rittenhender and her husband had donated puppies to families in need in the past and chose to do the same for John.

When the 18-month-old golden-colored Labrador raced into John’s hospital room, John smiled bigger than he had in weeks. He named his new best friend Melmin, after the hypochondriatic giraffe in the movie “Madagascar.” “He’s part of the family,” says John, who is undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. “We couldn’t ask for more,” says his mother, Vicki, of Allentown. “If there is a word better than incredible, that’s what I would call the staff here."

...Finding a Way

Deborah Salles and James Mayer of Fleetwood planned the perfect wedding, complete with a Renaissance-era ceremony and Elizabethan garb. But on their wedding day, Salles was recovering from abdominal surgery on LVH–Cedar Crest’s 4C. So 4C colleagues planned the day of the couple’s dreams.

They treated Salles to a manicure and pedicure from Youthful You technicians. A technical partner and friend colored her hair. Food services colleagues prepared a classroom with white linens and a bridal table for the reception. Family and friends arrived in costume with food and decorations.

When the ceremony began in the Jaindl Family Pavilion, Tami Lee, R.N., and Amy Thomas, R.N., accompanied Salles and her father, Donald Martin, down a rose-petal-covered aisle as operating room support partner Ray Sullivan played the piano. “Everyone went so far out of their way for us,” Salles says. The couple headed to the reception in a special “limousine”—a hospital golf cart with a “just married” sign.

...Donating Blood

Just before Labor Day weekend, Terry O’Neil received a phone call that changed her life. Her son, Patrick, 16, had been in an automobile crash that killed two of his friends.

He spent 20 days in the trauma neuro intensive care unit, recovering from various injuries (two collapsed lungs, 10 broken and fractured ribs, a fractured pelvis, body lacerations and severe head trauma). Terry stayed by his side, supported by her colleagues at Lehigh Neurology. “Jeannette Dicely and Michele Lang would come see me every day asking how everyone could help,” O’Neil says. “I told them to donate blood for Pat.”

Dicely, R.N., and Lang, office coordinator, relayed the message to their colleagues, and Nancy Eckert, R.N., coordinated the donations. Those who couldn’t give found others who could. In the end, more than 20 people donated blood that helped save Patrick’s life. “Everyone supported Pat and me,” O’Neil says. “He’s doing well today. We call him our miracle.”

...Embracing the Golden Rule

Mona Serfass will forever remember the care of a leukemia patient named Matt. “Nurses treated him like a king,” she says. Family was permitted to be by his bedside during chemotherapy, and nurses monitored his white blood cell count to allow Matt’s niece to visit when his risk for infection was at its lowest.

Sadly, Matt lost his battle and Mona lost a brother. However, it taught Serfass the importance of living by the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” It also made her a better nurse. “Now, I tell families when a surgery is delayed because I know what it’s like to stare at a hospital clock,” says Serfass, a post- anesthesia care unit R.N.

She won a Friends of Nursing award last year and, Serfass says, “I’ll nominate someone next time.” It’s another example of how she treats all people the way she wants to be treated. “It’s my way of sharing the love I have for my brother.”

Love Is...Giving Hope

As his wife battled a rare blood clotting disorder, Eddie DiVito lost his job. To learn how 4C staff supported this family in crisis and helped Eddie find work here, call 610-402-CARE.

This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM