Nurses is the key word in this letter.

Nurses, who treat patients, people, in a human, a compassionate, manner.

My wife was cared for by nurses after cardiac surgery at the Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute of the Central Maine Medical Center in 12-hour shifts for more than a month.

We all know that heart surgery by a surgeon is the first step in getting a human being back to a normal life. But the care that takes place after surgery is performed by nurses, female and male, and is as significant as the surgery is.

For only with follow-up attentive and compassionate, around-the-clock care, can a patient, a human being, survive major surgery.

Yes, you and I naturally honor surgeons, but we should never forget the nurses who work “in the trenches” so that we can return to love and work and laughter; to life after surgery.

Tom Fallon, Rumford