I became a nurse for my son Jake Bray after he was very sick for the first few years of life with LCHAD. Feeling helpless as a non-medical parent, I decided to quit my job in high tech and went back to school at age 30 for nursing while becoming a single mother and working full time. Of course, in addition to caring for Jake alone through many hospital stays. It took 8 years to complete my Associates in Nursing in 2012 at Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts. While in nursing school I worked at Lahey Hospital in Massachusetts which was a trauma level 1 hospital in the ER as a nursing assistant, where I learned almost more than I did in all of nursing school. I went on to complete my Bachelors in Nursing at Endicott College in Massachusetts graduating in 2018. I have worked in nursing homes, home care, a psychiatric unit and Cardiology, Orthopedic and ER departments at Lahey in Mass and then at Grand Strand and McLeod Hospitals in South Carolina. I recently followed my next dream and moved to Myrtle Beach, SC with Jake after he graduated high school in 2020 so we could enjoy warmer weather and be outside much more often. Jake and I love to swim and on a lighter note I bought a motorcycle for myself after graduating nursing school. As a nurse I will always remember what it is like to be “on the other side of the bed”. And as a parent my nursing experience has benefited Jake’s care in many ways. We have been to many conferences, and met with a few different metabolic doctors in various states for second opinions and clinical trials. Jake is now 21 years old and is doing very well and continues to be my inspiration. And it is now my pleasure to give back and share from my personal and professional experience.
