Second in a series: InCrowd is spending three weeks sharing stories of healthcare professionals’ most memorable patients and experiences. This week, we highlight practitioners’ who have made an incredible difference in the quality of the lives of their patients.

1. “A patient presented to our dermatology office with hip pain and a rash. She was convinced she had psoriatic arthritis, but no one would believe her. I took the time to sit down with her and hear experiences with other dermatologists and rheumatologists. She was distraught. It took several months and many different biopsies to finally confirm her psoriasis, but within one month of diagnosis, she was pain free and had traveled to Scotland to go hiking. She said, ‘You will never know how much you have helped me… you gave me my life back because you listened and cared.’” –Nurse Practitioner, AL, 16 years in practice

2. “I got to sit with an Alzheimer’s patient just this week. She was hallucinating that her husband was in danger. I held her hand, prayed with her, and read to her. I was able to soothe her back to sleep.” –Registered Nurse, AZ, 4 years in practice

3. “A pediatric patient presented with neurologic changes and an x-ray showed a brain tumor that was said to be inoperable. We developed a technique on the spot to remove the tumor, and the patient is still alive 20 years later.”–Neurologist, FL, 34 years in practice

4. “I helped a patient, who had lost most of her toes, eventually learn how to walk again.” –Certified Nursing Assistant, CT, 5 years in practice

5.  “I cared for a patient who couldn’t verbally communicate. Once we realized that she and I both knew the sign language alphabet, I was her favorite nurse for the rest of her stay.” –Nurse Practitioner, WI, 5 years in practice

6. “I recently reassured the mother of a boy who immigrated from Africa that her child would not die of eczema – he was told it was fatal in his home country.”–Emergency Medicine Physician, GA, 8 years in practice

7. “I once gave needy parents gas money to get to the specialty hospital we were sending their child.” –Licensed Practical Nurse, Michigan, 1 year in practice

8. “I talked at length with a depressed patient with chronic pain about the merits of religion. The conversation turned her life around.”–Physician Assistant, MD, 6 years in practice

9. “An elderly woman was close to dying in our ICU and her only ‘family’ left was her dog. I arranged for a neighbor to bring her pet in to see her one more time, and it gave her comfort in her last hour of life.” –Registered Nurse, TX, 11 years in practice

Last week, we listed the top 9 most puzzling health conditions our Crowd has diagnosed. Find the story here.

More to come next week!