Janice Langbehn, left, and Lisa Pond are seen in this photo.

She and her partner, Lisa Pond, were headed to the Bahamas on a vacation with their children when Pond had an aneurysm and was rushed to the hospital.

"'It's a defining moment' -- that's what I say, because it was the moment that my partner needed me the most in our 18 years together," Langbehn said. "She was dying behind a locked door, and I kept being told, 'Go sit down."'

For eight agonizing hours, Langbehn wasn't allowed to see her partner. She was allowed one five minute visit, when Pond was read her last rites, but was kept away during the final moments of Pond's life.

"She (a nurse) would say, 'Honey, it's me. You've been talking to me all night long, and I've told you once, and I told you twice. Go sit down. You're not getting back there,'" said Langbehn.

Three years and one lawsuit later, Langbehn got the call no one expected from President Barack Obama.

"And he says, 'Janice, I'm terribly sorry what's happened to you and Lisa. What happened at Jackson Memorial in Miami is outrageous, and I'm so sorry for your loss," Langbehn said.

The president called on Thursday, the same day he began requiring virtually all hospitals nationwide to extend visitation rights to same-sex couples and also allow them the medical power of attorney.

Langbehn says she's had so many calls since then from other gay and lesbian couples, thanking her for standing up.

"(They said) 'Thank God you did, because now I know if it's me or its my partner, we get to be with each other. It's a huge deal,"' Langbehn said. "I hope that Lisa would be proud of what we've done."