When Lily grows up she wants to...

When Lily grows up, she wants to be a nurse!

And not just any nurse...

Nurse "Kerwie" to be exact.

During our initial meeting with the heart transplant team, the Cardiologist asked Lily what she wanted to be when she grows up.  Lily did not even have to think about this question, and immediately replied, "I want to be a nurse, and do surgeries."  

Each of us have that very special person in our lives that we desire to grow up to be.  Lily first met Nurse Kerry right around this time last year when Lily went inpatient for pleural effusions.  Nurse Kerry was new to the Heart and Kidney Unit, and was still in training at the time.  From day one, I could tell that Nurse Kerry's spunk and energy were contagious, and Lily was in such a good mood whenever she was around.  Lily's smiles were limited during that time as she had three sets of chest tubes and eventually needed an ng tube placed when she stopped eating.  Even at her sickest, Lily would ask when Nurse Kerry would be back to work.  A very special friendship bond had definitely been created.

Matching pig tails to make the empress smile!

Nurse Kerry is LilyStrong

The hospital magically transforms into a spa

Nurse Kerry is also quite the artist,

and a hospital stay is never complete without

a Hello Kitty on Lily's board

Over the summer Nurse Kerry asked Lily what she wanted to be

 when she grew up, and Lily told her, 

"I want to be YOU!"

Nurse Kerry may or no may not have almost cried :-)