SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — As the coronavirus pandemic continues, restrictions on visitors in hospitals are still in place. That means patients have to rely on staff for emotional support now more than ever.
Allan Madrid has been at Kaiser Permanente for weeks suffering from a stroke following a traumatic brain injury.
While his wife can't go inside the hospital to see him, thanks to the nurses there, she's able to visit him every day.
"We've been together since we were 16 years old," said Melissa Madrid.
She hasn't been in the same room with her husband Allan for three weeks.
"It's frustrating but I understand," Melissa said. "At the same time, it is very hard."
Yet, she still sees him every day through a window, where she holds signs, writes in her journal and prays.
“So I'm basically just looking at him and watching him,” said Melissa.
Her 49-year-old husband is recovering from a stroke following a freak accident at home when a weight fell on his head while working out.
“I went to sleep and around 11 or 12. I heard a big bang and I thought 'oh it's just the weights,' so I went back to sleep," Melissa said. "At five in the morning, I heard another big bang and a crash so I got up and I found my husband in the kitchen unresponsive."
Allan can't move the left side of his body. He's often confused and isn't communicating as much as he used to.
But he's on the mend, both physically and emotionally thanks in part to the caring nurses by his side.
“You know, you put yourself into the patient's shoes," said Meagan Davison who has cared for Allan since he was first injured.
In fact, she's one of the nurses who spotted the signs he was having a stroke.
Melissa credits Meagan, as well as her co-workers, for making what's been a traumatic experience a bit easier to deal with.
For starters, they created a heart with post-it notes in a window so Melissa could easily spot the room her husband was in. That's since evolved to a sign that says "hope."
“I just pull up a chair and call the unit and they'll change his bed so he can see me," Melissa said.
“Allan smiles and he does his heart tap. He taps his heart three times saying 'I love you' to her," said Meagan.
Melissa and Meagan have since formed a close bond, first by phone, then during a coincidental meeting outside the hospital one day.
But this story is just one example of how nurses everywhere have gone above and beyond, especially lately during this pandemic when they're often the only connection a patient has to the outside world.
“The fact they these patients can't have support at their bedside, we're their nurse and we're also their spouse and their child all in one and we try to be a support system for the family on the outside too," Meagan said.
She said she and her fellow nurses are on the phone a lot more these days and often Facetime for their patients.
As for Allan, he is scheduled to come home this week, where he will continue the healing process with physical therapy.