Dying son inspired mom to become a nurse at Riley

Before she even speaks, Charmaine Mercado's eyes are telling a story. It's about a mother's love for her son and that son's fierce love and respect for his mom.

Mercado is sitting in a hospital lobby, on her 40th birthday, talking about the power of faith, coupled with hard work and sacrifice. So much sacrifice.

She has spent a lot of time in hospitals since 2002. That's when her son, JC, then about 10, began having intestinal problems related to surgery he'd had as a baby. Sometimes, he was hospitalized for months at a time. She became a fixture by his side.

As months turned into years, Mercado left her job as a secretary for a Head Start program in Kokomo to take a position as a Spanish-speaking translator at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, where JC was being treated. Eventually, her mom went to work there, too. When JC was hospitalized, the two women took turns staying with him.

Mercado, who had a high school education, became a student of medicine in those early days, learning about the treatments and procedures her son endured as if it were her job. She had to understand. She had to help him get better.

JC noticed. When he first suggested she go back to school to become a nurse, she laughed.

Impossible, she said. The idea terrified her.

"This kid thinks that I can really be a nurse," she remembered thinking to herself. "I was scared to death; I didn't think I was capable of it. I would look at these nurses, and I admired them. When the going got tough, they were there. I could never do that."

But JC was persistent. He badgered her over several weeks, even asking other nurses to encourage her to go back to school.

Truthfully, he was probably the only one who thought she could or should do it. Mercado's husband, Jorge, called the idea crazy, suggesting she didn't have the time or energy to care for a sick child, work full time and go to school. Anyone else might have agreed with him.

But what would it hurt to take one class?

"I didn't know what was going to happen," she said, "but I was going to at least show him that I tried."

She signed up for one class that first semester at Ivy Tech, then took two more the next semester.

"I actually enjoyed it," she said, "but I had so many people telling me how hard it was going to be to get into the nursing program. My son was really the only one encouraging me."

Maybe you've guessed how this story turns out. Mercado got the grades she needed and was accepted into nursing school, and JC got to see her in her scrubs. He would make a fuss every time she walked into his hospital room, bragging that his mom was going to be a nurse. This embarrassed her to no end.

Later, she would have given anything to hear her son brag on her, to see the pride in his eyes.

In 2006, JC underwent a multivisceral transplant, a complicated procedure involving new intestines, liver, pancreas and stomach. It gave him more time, but not enough. In 2008, JC died at age 16.

Most would understand if Mercado's dream of a nursing career, which had barely begun, died with her son.

"When he passed away, I was going to quit. I told my husband I couldn't take it. I had missed one week of school, and that's so much material."

This time, Jorge Mercado had a different message for his wife.

"He said, 'I'm not going to tell you what to do; I'm just going to say don't lose both things. You want to do it for JC.' "

And he was right. The next week, she was back at it, broken heart and all.

"People ask me how I got through. It was a blur; it was the grace of God that got me through it."

That and a lot of work. Mercado went on to complete her associate's degree in nursing and began working as a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Riley.

Soon, she went back for her bachelor's. And in May, she earned her master's degree from IUPUI. Last month, she passed the exam to become a certified pediatric nurse practitioner, qualifying her to provide a broad range of advanced health-care services. A nurse practitioner can serve as a patient's regular health-care provider, much like a doctor.

For a woman who didn't think she had it in her to become a nurse, Mercado has surprised herself, if not others.

"Many times, I wanted to pick up the white flag and surrender," she said.

But she had cheerleaders along the way, stepping in to pick up where her son left off.

Marilyn Cox was one. She retired in December as chief nursing officer for Riley and came to know Mercado for her unwavering strength in caring for her son.

"She was always such a strong advocate for JC. When you have an illness like he did, it's a challenge to coordinate the care because there are so many different services and specialists," Cox said. "Charmaine learned early on she was his best advocate, and the staff came to respect her quite a bit."

Not only does Mercado deliver excellent clinical care to her patients, she brings a level of understanding and compassion that the families she works with deeply appreciate, Cox said.

"She brings courage, compassion and care to every patient and every family every day that she's on duty. I was always inspired by her."

Currently, Mercado works in the Pediatric ICU at Riley, but she also has worked in the Transplant ICU, which she feels is her calling.

"That's where the doctors who took care of my son are. That's been my favorite job ever. I like that it provides hope. I know how the patients and the families feel."

She stays close to the families of patients she has treated, celebrating milestones with those who survived, remembering those who did not. She worked with doctors to start hosting pediatric transplant reunions at Riley.

Mercado's heart aches for her son, gone seven years now, but she believes he was preparing her for a better life. A life spent helping others.

"I never would have done this myself. I could never envision myself as a nurse, much less a pediatric nurse practitioner. Is this really happening?"

Recently, Mercado said, she was doing clinicals at an Eskenazi Health site when she was approached by a woman with a young girl by her side whom Mercado soon recognized.

"I took care of this girl when she was in NICU. She was so tiny, a 23- or 24-weeker. And here she was, a little girl now, walking and talking. Her mom said, 'I think of you all the time.'

"All the support I get from these families reassures me I'm going in the right direction."

Call Star reporter Maureen Gilmer at (317) 444-6879. Follow her on Twitter: @MaureenCGilmer.