An Open Letter to Grand Junction Doctors and Nurses

I had what you might call, a non-traditional Christmas Eve this year. I woke up early Tuesday morning to find my mom on the floor with a broken shoulder and a head injury. She had tripped over one of the baby gates in our house used to keep the dog out of certain rooms, hit her head on this old iron bed she stays in when she comes to visit, and fell on her arm in such a way that it dislocated and broke her shoulder.

The ambulance with several firemen showed up and despite the high tension of the situation, all kept their cool and helped my mother into the vehicle to take her to the hospital, as I followed in my car.

I then proceeded to go through security and found my mom's room where a nurse was taking care of her. I couldn't believe how calm and collected the nurses, doctors, x-ray technicians and really the entire staff was during this whole ordeal. They proceeded to pop her arm back into place, stitch her up and eventually wheeled her out in a wheelchair to be taken home.

It's easy to forget that while many of us are cooking, wrapping presents and getting into the Christmas spirit, there are plenty of people in our community that do not have that luxury. In fact, one of the doctors told us that both she and her husband work at the hospital and were both working on Christmas Eve as well as Christmas Day.

I can't imagine what that would be like. These men and women sacrifice so much to be there for people in need, 365 days a year, literally saving lives. I cannot thank the EMTs, doctors, and nurses enough for being there for my mom and taking such good care of her. Everyone we encountered through this ordeal was calm, collected, and extremely friendly.

So, to all of those in the medical field, first responders, military, etc., thank you for your sacrifice this time of year, from the bottom of my heart.

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