PALO ALTO — Something happened last month that showed just how enduring a bond neonatal intensive care nurse Vilma Wong has with her impossibly tiny patients, even after 32 years on the job. 
 
 Wong was working a day shift earlier this month at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital when she spotted a young man in blue scrubs near one of the incubators. 
 
 All medical personnel have to check in at the nurse’s station before examining the prematurely born infants whose frail bodies are tethered to their cots by feeding and breathing tubes. 
 
 “Who are you?’’ she asked second-year pediatric resident Brandon Seminatore, who is training to become a child neurologist. 
 
 “His last name sounded very familiar,” she recalled. “I kept asking where he was from and he told me that he was from San Jose, California, and that, as a matter of fact, he was a premature baby born at our hospital. I then got very suspicious because I remember being the primary nurse to a baby with the same last name.’’ 
 
 To confirm her hunch, she asked him if his dad was a police officer. 
 
 “There was a big silence,’’ she said, “and then he asked if I was Vilma.’’ 
 
 Seminatore was stunned Wong remembered caring for him 28 years ago — out of the tens of thousands of kids who have passed through the unit since then. She and fellow nurse Kas Pilon are legendary in his family for their kindness and tender care. 
 
 “Meeting Vilma was a surreal experience,’’ he said. “She cares deeply for her patients, to the point that she was able to remember a patient’s name almost three decades later.’’ 
 
 Seminatore weighed only two pounds and six ounces — the size of a small pineapple — when he was rushed in April 1990 after his mother’s emergency C-section to the neonatal intensive care unit known as the NICU (pronounced NICK-U). 
 
 Now, he weighs 134 pounds more and at 5-feet-8 is considerably taller than the 5-pound, 2-ounce baby who left the hospital after more than 40 days in the unit. But he has the same dark eyes and alert expression. 
 
 When Seminatore’s mom heard he was doing a month-long rotation in the NICU, she urged him to ask about both women. 
 
 “They were the most wonderful nurses,’’ said Laura Seminatore, who was a kindergarten teacher in 1990 when her only son was born and is now the principal at St. John Vianney Catholic school in San Jose. “They helped calm a lot of our fears.’’ 
 
 Seminatore had done a similar month-long stint in the unit last year without realizing the nurses from his infancy both still worked there. He said he didn’t ask, figuring they had either moved on or already retired. Wong, now 54, said she loves her work and has no plans to retire. 
 
 Once Seminatore realized he had found Wong, he immediately texted his parents. It didn’t take long for his dad, retired San Jose police officer David Seminatore, to retrieve an old family photo album and find a picture of Wong cradling Seminatore on her lap. 
 
 In the photo, Brandon had just had the breathing tube removed and looks remarkably chipper. By that time, he was able to eat on his own and was beginning to thrive, Wong remembered. 
 
 For years until Seminatore was 11 or 12, the family made a point of attending the NICU’s annual reunion, which will be held later this month for families whose children were treated there. Brandon has two younger sisters who were also born in the same hospital. 
 
 Seminatore, who lives with his husband across the street from the hospital in housing for medical residents, said it’s unclear how much his own history played into his decision to become a healer, though he said it might be a factor. 
 
 For Wong, meeting Seminatore for the second time was a joy. 
 
 “As a nurse,’’ she said, “it’s kind of like your reward.’’ 
 
 The heartwarming story, which the hospital posted on its Facebook page, has been shared more than 3,000 times and drawn more than 700 plaudits. Some messages are from other families who remember “Auntie Vilma’’ fondly. 
 
 “Vilma was like my son’s second mom,’’ one woman said. 
 
 Even those who have never met her were touched. 
 
 “The world needs more Vilmas,’’ one said. “Thank you for everything.’’ 

 My daughter was born here and a NICU 4 graduate back in 2010. She's still seen by 8-10 different doctors. The service in the 8 years we've been going to them has drasticall 
 
 ... 
 
 sidering how amazing they once were! I also feel like they cater to Medi-Cal patients. (My daughter was once on that and ccs) now we have blue cross. She was seen by her team in August 2017, what was once an all day event was more like 2.5 hrs and then charged outrages fees! When I started putting bills on payment plans 4 months later they were in collection s� every time I call it's well your weren't on any plans. Yes I was and even if I wasn't why would you put me in collection s when I made monthly payments? I'm sorry but lack of service and high rates for subpar appointmen ts isn't worth it anymore. We will bring our daughter to Valley Children's or San Francisco for further evaluation s. The only reason I'm giving them 2 stars is because at one time I would of given them 5+. 
 
 y dropped. Quite a shame con 

 A heart-warming reunion at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford between neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse Vilma Wong and one of her former patients has gone viral! CBS This Morning featured the story of Vilma’s chance encounter with her former patient, 28 years later. 
 
 Brandon Seminatore, MD, was born at Stanford 28 years ago at just 29-weeks gestation, and was cared for in the NICU for over a month before his parents were able to bring him home to San Jose. During that time, they developed a close relationship with his primary care nurse, Vilma Wong. 
 
 Fast forward nearly 30 years: Brandon is healthy and is currently a second year pediatric neurology resident at Packard Children’s. During his morning rounds on the NICU earlier this month, Vilma recognized his name—what a memory! We posted their story on social media and it has reached more than a million people, in addition to being featured on CBS and in other media. 
 
 Vilma recounts the moment they reunited: 
 
 Brandon was on my team and taking care of one of my patients. I asked who he was and his last name sounded very familiar. I kept asking questions, like where he was from and he told me he was from San Jose, and that as a matter of fact, he was a premature baby born at our hospital. I then got very suspicious because I remember being the primary nurse to a baby with the same last name. To confirm my suspicion, I asked him if his dad was a police officer. And there was a big silence. Then he asked me if I was Vilma. I said yes! 
 
 When Brandon began his residency at Packard Children’s, his mother asked him to look for nurse Vilma in the NICU. Assuming she had retired by now, he didn’t think much more of it. But soon that all changed. 
 
 “Meeting Vilma was a surreal experience,” Brandon said. “When Vilma recognized my name, it truly sunk in that I was one of these babies. I’ve come full-circle and I’m taking care of babies with the nurse that took care of me.” 
 
 Brandon’s parents were thrilled to hear about their reunion, and shared the picture they had of Vilma holding him on her lap, which they’ve kept all these years. 
 
 “It’s amazing that he did come full circle,” Brandon’s mother, Laura Seminatore, told CBS. “I’m hoping that he will make an impact on future families the way that Vilma has made an impact on our family.” 
 
 Vilma says she was in shock when she and Brandon initially reunited. “But I also felt overjoyed to know that I took care of him almost 30 years ago and now he’s a pediatric resident to the same population he was part of when he was born,” Vilma said. “It feels amazing. I can’t describe it. It’s just this deep joy and happiness,” she told CBS. 
 
 “Meeting Vilma showed me the dedication and love she has for her career,” Brandon said. “She cares deeply for her patients, to the point that she was able to remember a patient’s name almost three decades later. Not all of us will get the chance to see our patients grow up, and I was so happy to be able to share that moment with her.” 
 
 Vilma has been a nurse in the NICU at Packard Children’s for 32 years. NICU nurses, who provide so much of the hands-on care of some of the hospital’s most fragile patients, wear many hats and deal with high-stress situations on a daily basis. “Although it is a very challenging profession, being a NICU nurse is also very rewarding,” Vilma said. “I consider myself very lucky to be in a profession that I love, and to make a difference in somebody’s life.” 
 
 Reflecting on the bond they share, Brandon echoed Vilma’s sentiments: 
 
 We all try to give our patients the best chance to grow up happy and healthy. This story is for families with children who have had a rough start in life. I want to give them hope.
– A neonatal intensive care nurse in California recently realized a fresh-faced pediatric neurology resident she's working alongside was once one of her patients. Per the Mercury News, Vilma Wong said she asked Dr. Brandon Seminatore his name when he began working on her team. "I then got very suspicious because I remember being the primary nurse to a baby with the same last name," Wong, 54, said in a statement after the story went viral on Facebook. "To confirm my suspicion, I asked him if his dad was a police officer. And there was a big silence. Then he asked me if I was Vilma. I said yes!" Per a statement from the hospital, Seminatore was born at just under 2.5 pounds in 1990 and spent 40 days in the NICU unit, where he now knows Wong was among the team that helped keep him alive. “Meeting Vilma was a surreal experience,” Seminatore said. “I’ve come full circle and I’m taking care of babies with the nurse that took care of me.” Also thrilled about the reunion were Seminatore's parents, who attended reunions for patients of the NICU unit for several years after their only son got his clean bill of health. They even provided a photo that was snapped all those years ago of Seminatore sitting on Wong's lap. “I was in shock initially, but overjoyed," Wong said.