Scores of Freeman nurses and employees lined the Medical-Oncology unit hallway at Freeman West late last week – clapping and cheering – as Freeman patient Tina Keller made her way out of the hospital room she’s called a home away from home since September.

“I love you all so much,” Keller said minutes later, sitting down in a nearby rec room as Freeman employees threw her an impromptu party. “Everybody here has made me realize that I am very loved.”

“You are very loved,” Freeman Physical Therapy Assistant Amaris Beasley answered her.

Keller has touched the lives of multiple Freeman employees over the last several months as she spent time at the Stephens Adult Psychiatric Unit, a 41-bed inpatient center at Freeman East, as well as Senior Serenity, a 10-bed inpatient facility also located at 932 E. 34th Street. When she developed an ulcer, she was moved to Freeman West.

According to Freeman Chief Nursing Officer Jeanee Kennedy, Keller made incredible progress in that time thanks in large part to the care and dedication shown to her by Freeman nurses and staff. Her complex care required massive collaboration, advocacy and determination by nursing and support staff at two different Freeman locations.

“When I first came here – I had given up. I was not in a good place, and I would just lie in bed and wouldn’t speak to people,” Keller said, wiping away tears. “I finally came out of it one day and started talking and I progressively got better and better. I think why I’m doing so well is because I had such a great amount of people who took care of me. Everybody here went above and beyond what they needed to do for me and made it a point to visit with me every day. They deserve the kudos. They really do.”

“Being able to see you walk and being able to see you so bright and happy means everything to me,” said Freeman nurse practitioner Valerie Goodale during the party. “I’m very happy to get to see you like this today.”

According to Freeman’s Dr. Jeffrey Bradley, Medical Director of Psychiatry, his experience with Keller stretched his medical knowledge because there were so many “defeats and victories” during those months of care.

“In 23 years, I’ve never seen a patient more impaired from depression – and I’ve seen 17,000 patients,” Dr. Bradley said of Keller. “I was really heavy at heart.”

Her depression was so deep, he said, that Keller simply wouldn’t eat.

“We did everything we could from a therapeutic perspective and medication perspective to support her appetite and it didn’t work,” Dr. Bradley said. “She wasn’t going to eat. We even wondered if she had catatonia – but she did not have that. She was just so depressed she couldn’t look at people – she would stare at the ceiling for hours and hours and hours, and not move. The human body is meant to move. If you don’t move for a while, you hurt.”

Keller’s situation took a turn for the better when she was given a feeding tube. From that moment forward, a combination of nutrition and medication did the trick.

“I never had a patient with depression who was so impaired,” Dr. Bradley said, “and now she’s engaged, she’s able to laugh, have good humor, build rapport with people and communicate effectively.”

During the party, Dr. Bradley read Keller a William Stafford poem, “A Ritual to Read to Each Other.”

“You’ve taught me everything about medicine and I’m just grateful to know you,” he told her.
“Same for me,” Keller said, wiping away tears. “That’s a ditto.”

Keller left Freeman West Medical-Oncology and is now recuperating at Freeman East. 

“I don’t even know how to put how I feel into words,” Keller said. “I’m just shaking, crying, happy – completely ecstatic.”