One of the reasons we went to Arizona was to be a part
of an exclusive tour of the new Valleywise Health Medical Center
and reception to honor Dr. Daniel Caruso and his extraordinary efforts
and vision for the new Arizona Burn Center - Valleywise Health.
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Dr. Caruso is one of the reasons Christian and I are still alive.
He passed away in 2017, and I will never forget him.
Christian and I were honored to speak at the reception to honor
his legacy and share personal stories about this great man,
like in 2014 when Ollie dressed up as him for Halloween!
We also met up with one of the nurses, Amber, who cared for Christian and me
when we were patients. I was SHOOK to see her. I haven't seen
or talked to her for YEARS! She said she spoke before, but I was
probably heavily medicated because I don't remember.
But how cool to tour this beautiful facility with her!
I was feeling all sorts of feelings!
We walked to the roof where the helipad was and
looked out into the Valley.
I felt so much excitement for this community getting this
much-needed, much-deserved hospital!
It was really emotional for me to walk the
halls of this new sacred hospital with Christian and my children
(minus Gigs, who was home sick)
led by the chief of the Burn Center and my dear friend, Dr. Foster.
The burn community is family- including my children!
Our family will be FOREVER grateful for the AZBC and all the many
doctors, nurses, therapists, and techs (just like Claire in a few weeks!! EEEK!)
who blessed and saved our lives.
Burn staff; doctors, nurses, techs, etc.:
Christian and I, with Dr. Caruso's wife, Diane:
Then we finished the evening off at dinner with the Nies
where I took thousands of photos of Claire and Ollie
because I'm going to miss them SOSOSOSOSO MUCH!
