"Thank you just isn't enough"

I was sent to CAU in mid April from my GP surgery with a severe asthma attack. The 2 SAS crew, Alison and Chris were absolutely magnificent in keeping me calm and informed all the way and I feel their calmness and professionalism really helped me to feel less stressed in myself.

I got to CAU, busy as always but it was very calm, everyone was working hard.  I was seen very promptly by Tina and Trisha and had my observations done and quickly settled into bay 2.  I was again seen quickly by Dr Ben who kept me updated about results and further tests and also my nurse Megan and student nurse Isabel cared for my every need. The unit was very busy indeed but was running like a well tuned engine.

Donna, my night nurse was lovely but I slept OK so didn't need much during the night but was reassuring she was there if needed. Unfortunately, I have ptsd from a previous admission and I could feel this working on me from 0200 on the Thursday. I had a full blown panic attack on the Thursday morning and Tina who was in charge dealt with me very well. Trish, however, Sat with me and chatted with me to try change my thoughts and provided calm.  We got talking about butteries and it really helped me. My nurse that Thursday was lovely and I honestly couldn't fault my stay at all.

From serco staff, radiology staff, clinical staff and that fab CAU team, I honestly felt I was the only person in the unit as my care is second to none.  Trish though, is such an asset to the team, she really supports her patients and her love for her job really shines through.  She should really be given a special award because she really went above and beyond for me and her other patients as well as sitting with me for over 45 mins when I was having a panic attack.  I honestly cannot say thank you enough. 

If the SCN of CAU gets to read this, you have a fabulous team, the very essence of team work demonstrated on a daily basis.  The most wonderful thing I witnessed was all the staff being thanked for their hard work that day by whoever was in charge. I witnessed this over the 3 shifts I was in the unit for.  Thank you just isn't enough.