Hospital patient celebrates one of “life’s” precious moments

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For some, being in the hospital can mean missing some of life’s special moments. This could be a family member birthday, a special anniversary or even a wedding. For Terrie Kaluzny, patient in the CCU at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, being hospitalized meant she would miss her son’s wedding. However, staff at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital arranged for Terrie to not only get to see her son’s wedding in person at a special ceremony in the room, but also used a WebEx session so that Terrie could also view her son’s wedding and reception while it was happening.

The beautiful wedding cake the Sentara Virginia Beach Hospital cafeteria made.

“My son had a private wedding for me here in the hospital in my room with a few family members. Some of the nurses said you can’t have a wedding without decorations. They went out and surprised my family and me by decorating my room. The cafeteria executive said you can’t  have a wedding without a wedding cake, so he made a beautiful wedding cake that was soooooo good. One of the nurse’s parents did my nails, make up and made a pretty flower arrangement for my hair because she said the groom’s mother is special. This was the best wedding ever. It will always be special to me, my son, his wife and our family and your staff did this for us,” recalls Terrie about the day.

Terrie Kaluzny getting her nails done before the wedding.

Terrie’s son was to be married on September 17, 2011. Terrie was so overjoyed that she was able to have the private ceremony in her hospital room since she knew she could not attend the actual wedding. Then staff came up with a way for Terrie to get to see her son’s actual wedding. The staff arranged a way for Terrie and a few family members to watch the wedding through WebEx, while the wedding was taking place. 

“I went to Ms. Kaluzny’s room and shared with her that we set up a way for her to see her son’s wedding in real-time. Her husband was in the room. They were both over-joyed,” said Jessica Keith, Nurse Manager, Step-Down Unit.

The wedding began and Terrie, a few family members and some hospital staff were able to view the wedding as it was happening in real-time.

“From what I hear, there was not a dry eye in that room,” expressed Jessica.

“I need a lot of care and I can not speak highly enough of all your staff in this unit or the ones I have come into contact with. I have absolutely NOT one complaint. NOT 1. In fact, I believe this unit should be the role model and the staff should train others on how it all should be done. They are the best group of people and I love and respect them all. As patients, we are scared, worried and full of anxiety and they have helped me through each of these things and then some. They go far and above what their job duties call for and a lot of times it’s just that one small thing that makes the biggest difference,” said Terrie.

Being in the hospital may interrupt some special events, but for Terrie Kaluzny and her family with the help from Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital staff, she was able to be a part of and experience her son’s wedding.

Maria Diaz helped work to make the WebEx possible.

Special thanks to: Jessica Keith, Nurse Manager Step-Down Unit; Maria Diaz, Patient Advocate; Dolores Reed, Volunteer Coordinator; Lisa Lawson, Patient Care Supervisor; Carrie Newman, System Administrator; Nicole Gorman, Nursing Care Partner Step-Down Unit; Margo Waltz, Registered Nurse Step-Down Unit; Tim White, Catering Associate; Jason Childress, Patient Services Manager; Lew Thomas, Respiratory Care Practitioner; and all the rest of the staff at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.

(L to R) Stephanie Tedesco, Tim White, Stephen Losee, Jason Childress. Staff helped make the wedding possible for Terrie.