Nurses are 'angels'....

I just wanted to send a big thank you to some special people.

First off - "nurses."

As many of you know my daughter Rayanne is struggling with a thing called Graves Disease. (couldn't they have named it something better than that?) It attacks young women and their thyroids go 'out of control' with this disease.

One minute everything is fine - and the next her heart will start beating at 150 beats per minute - and she can't breath so it's off to the emergency room.

The disease 'moves around' the body and will do everything from bugging their eyes out to making the victim hot when it's cold/cold when it's hot. There is no set 'cure' - and most that are stricken end up on pills for the rest of their lives.

Rayanne's Doctor said that he had only seen cases as bad as hers five or six times in his life. She's not been able to work for seven months - and hasn't had a normal nights sleep for a very long time.

Through it all she's a 'touch cookie' - and yesterday said "Dad I'm sick of being sick."

Here's the thank you.

I'm a 'suck' in hospitals and around Doctors/Nurses. In fact I get sweat marks from my armpits to my waist when I simply go get my teeth cleaned so sitting in an isolation room in a hospital with a mask on (which I can't breath through); gloves that the Blue Man Group would probably endorse; and a gown that if worn without pants might make people think I was a professional plumber causes me huge stress. I just cant do it.

Through every visit though I have gained more and more respect for the work that Nurses do. I simply can't imagine how being around 'pain' on a daily basis 24/7/365 can affect a person. These ladies are in a pressure packed 'miserable' work environment yet do their jobs with amazing efficiency, knowledge, and spirit.

(OK 38 years around whiney disc jockeys in radio has a similar effect, but I digress.)

Virtually every nurse that came in to look after Rayanne, through some very painful processes, came in with a pleasant demeanor and (I think) a smile on their faces behind their face masks.

Each of them took the time to explain to us, as best they can, what was going on - and they spent 'real time' talking to Rayanne like a person rather than a patient.

The other day we got the nicest compliment from one of the nurses when we were told that Rayanne was referred to as "that nice girl in 563." Through all of this Rayanne still has a great sense of humour and wasn't pushing her pain and problems on anybody else.

OK there was one miserable @W$@#$@ but that's expected.

So 'thank you ladies' - you made a very painful time of our lives a little less stressful and it's greatly appreciated.

Next, to Rayannes friends and the rest of our extended family..thank you too.

Her boyfriend and Kirit rushed Rayanne to the hospital this last time late at night and stayed with her in the mergency ward for most of the night until they knew everything was ok.

Throughout the week many of our friends sent notes to Rayanne via Facebook - which really had a huge effect on keeping her spirits high throughout the ordeal. We all know you're not supposed to have a cell phone in the hospital but I can't imagine how lonely it would have been without it and 'so far' we haven't heard the iphone knocking out the electrical system nearby so that must also be a fallacy that both the medical and airlines like to propigate.

So again 'my thank you' to everybody - it means a great deal to all of us.

The next step is surgery to remove the thyroid. Many friends who have been through this tell me that everything becomes relatively normal after it is removed. She will go from 16 pills a day to one a day - albeit for the rest of her life.

Finally, both of my daughters have not given me one minutes worry in my entire life - until the last few weeks - when we all saw how serious this has become and there is "nothing" in your life worse than seeing your own child cry.

Even though Rayanne is now 23 years old she'll always be a goofy little 5 year old in my mind who still carries her nickname "punk" into adulthood.

Thanks everybody. We're looking forward to putting this all behind and getting things back to normal in the Forbes Family....and my thanks are 'very' sincere.

I have great friends - and family!