Alumni on the Frontlines - Catherine Asbury
Catherine Asbury ’09 works as a registered nurse in the surgical ICU at Michigan Medicine, which is at the University of Michigan. Her unit normally takes unstable post-surgical patients, including those who have had liver transplants, patients in kidney failure, and patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Catherine works closely with the patients, their families, and various other members of the medical team, including physicians, respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists, and many more very essential people. “I am blessed to work with tons of incredible people, all for the same goal - to improve our patients’ health and well-being,” she explained.
In early March, Catherine’s unit became a COVID-only ICU. Because of their skill and training with ARDS patients and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which supports patients’ lungs when the ventilator is not enough), they were quickly designated to take the very, very sick COVID patients, and they accepted transfers from all over the state. Since then, she has cared for only COVID patients, and as the world returns to "normal," they are still very much in the fight against COVID.
“What this meant for me was caring for very, very sick patients over very long days and weeks,” said Catherine. “I have never seen patients change so quickly and become so incredibly sick. Over the course of hours, these patients would go from relatively stable to actively fighting for their lives, on ventilators to support their lungs and medications to support their blood pressure. It was, and continues to be, emotionally taxing.
“Because of the restrictions in place, families of the patients were not allowed in the hospital so these patients were alone, fighting for their lives. We quickly became nurse+: nurse plus family, plus emotional support, plus anything that the patient needed in that moment. My unit was able to purchase several iPhones in hopes to lessen this burden, allowing families to FaceTime with the patients. That brought both good and bad. On a Monday, I held an iPhone over my patient, allowing his daughters to say their goodbyes to their daddy only two days after they lost their mother to COVID. The next day, I held the very same phone for a patient whose breathing tube had just been removed, and he was able to say hi to his dad for the first time in 27 days. The sheer fragility of life became amplified to me, even more than it already was.”
Catherine’s husband is also a nurse, and he was assigned to work in the makeshift COVID ICU at Toledo Hospital. “To be frank, this was terrifying,” she said. “Most of my co-workers effectively moved to Ann Arbor for the last three months, staying in hotels around the city in order to quarantine themselves from their families, allowing their spouse to be the primary caregiver as many were home on leave. That wasn't really an option for us, though we discussed it. We have two small children, my daughter, Gabrielle is three, and my son, Dominic, just turned one in April. We discussed the potential of sending the kids to live with our parents, but my husband posed the question, ‘Until when? What if this doesn't end?’ Leaving my children for a week broke my heart, let alone for months or more.
“So, we made it work. We both took every precaution to not bring the virus home. We changed at work, packaged our scrubs in a plastic bag, then stripped again in our garage and showered the moment we got home. Everything that we had to bring home got disinfected and left in our garage. Since we continue to care for COVID patients, we continue to follow this process. We both worked, and continue to work, a lot of extra hours. These patients are very sick and require more nursing care than the ‘average’ patient. We have been very blessed with support. Both of our parents live locally and watch the kids when we work, coming to our house so they can maintain a sense of normalcy in a very abnormal time.
“I mentioned that this time has really highlighted the fragility of human lives, and I think that this feeling is felt throughout the community. I know my husband and I both felt it. We discussed the possibility of one of us getting ill, what our wishes would be - we aren't even 30 yet, already having that conversation as that reality was one we could face shortly. But this also allowed us to live fuller, be more present, more grateful for the life we do have, the blessings we've been given and everything that we have. While it's been a hard time, I've truly tried to find the positives in it all.”
Catherine always had an interest in the sciences, and she said Central Catholic fostered that interest. She did not originally think she would attend CCHS, but that completely changed when she visited.
“I remember Mr Torrence, the anatomy teacher, had his alligators out and Mrs. Bremer, the chemistry teacher, was doing experiments, and Mr. Smith, the biology teacher, was showing off frogs,” she recalled. “The school felt alive, with science! That never slowed - every year I loved my science classes, and I was taught by all of those teachers that impressed me from the start. Those teachers, and their passion for their subjects, really fostered a love for science in me - they made it ‘cool’ to be a nerd. I still love learning new things in my career. From new research breakthroughs, to understanding advanced pathophysiology of disease processes, I still find myself getting excited to learn and understand new things!
“I frequently look back at my time at CCHS and smile. I had a great high school experience that I am forever grateful for. I was on the swim team all four years, and the crew team my senior year. I was also a member of the National Honor Society, student government, and the school newspaper. I loved going to the football games, and the new stadium was built during my time at Central. I also remember when the football team won the state championship my freshman year! CCHS really has a family atmosphere - it's truly the high school experience I pray my children have!”
After graduating from Central Catholic, Catherine attended the University of Toledo, where she was a dual major in nursing and psychology. In addition to her current work, she is pursuing a master’s degree in nursing at the University of Michigan to become an adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner.