Grateful and Blessed

A couple of years ago, my husband was admitted into the IMCU of the hospital. His COPD had exasperated and he was retaining CO2. He was placed on a Bipap machine mask 24/7.

It had been about 15 yrs since we had a hospital stay so we had no idea of the changes in hospital medical staff. We were both confused and frustrated. He was very sick. I was trying to keep him calm and help him understand what was going on but I had no idea either.

Two days later, while I was there the hospitalist came and asked a pulmonologist to evaluate Tom. We were told he was in stage 4 COPD. This was so upsetting as he had COPD but was ok just a week before. A day later Tom was on the Bipap machine only at night and oxygen during the day. So against the Pulmonologists advise Tom was coming home the next day.

I was beside myself and overwhelmed with thoughts of his needs coming home. I went to Dr Kopjas’ office to get a referral for a pulmonologist for Tom’s follow up treatment, as we both respect Dr Kopjas’ opinion.

When I arrived, the waiting room was empty. Right away the staff was concerned about Tom ‘s health. As we talked about needing a pulmonologist I became overwhelmed with emotion and began to quietly cry. One of the staff went to get the doctor. Within a minute or so, he came into the empty waiting room. We sat together and talked about all of my concerns for several minutes. He explained his roll with the hospitalist. He was genuinely caring, kind and calming. He helped me believe that Tom was going to be okay. As I left his office and prepared for Tom to come home, I knew we were going to be okay.
I will never forget the compassion he and his team showed me that day.

Dr Kopjas and his team are always ready to help us, but that day will always be something special to me. I needed someone to hear me and I got a village to help us. Thank you, Dr. Kopjas and team! Keep doing what you do! You are very special people and so appreciated! You make a difference in the lives you touch. Tom and I are so blessed to have you on our side.

The picture below is Tom and I continuing to dance together, as we have for over 50 years.