A Warm Blanket
Please note that the
following represent each family's individual experiences
and beliefs. Every family is different, and the needs and
feelings of the children involved will be unique. We
encourage you to seek professional advice if you have
concerns or questions with regard to these issues. Responses
to Family Room
| I loved the "warm
blanket" story, and it got
me thinking of the many things that have been
done to make my 2 year old with HLHS comfortable
at the hospital. The thing that sticks
out the most was a nurse who took the time to
hold him...as a baby...not a patient. I know the
nurses are busy, but this particular nurse made a
point of telling me how cute he was, and asked if
she could please hold him. She spent about 5
minutes just cuddling, no procedures, and playing
peek a boo with him and he loved it. This nurse
took the time with all the kids she took care of
to visit them when it wasn't time for vitals or
some other nasty thing. She said that she just
loved the kids and wanted them to not only think
of her as someone who did something to them, but
someone who could be fun too.
K.K.
|
| A "warm
blanket"...When I think of
our son's surgery almost 3 years ago, the warmth
that always comes to mind is from the faces of
the people who were involved in our son's care.
What comes to mind first and foremost is the team
of nurses in ICU, and their willingness to ensure
that our son was as precious to them as he is to
our family. Our son's
surgery was scheduled for a Monday morning.
Saturday he had a blue spell, and did not come
out of it easily. After a few calls to our PC, it
was decided to have him admitted to ICU.
Once
we arrived, the team in ICU helped us to settle,
and our son was given one of the new cribs to
sleep in for the night. The problem being that he
had never slept in a crib before - he was used to
curling up with his Dad and I in bed.
I
was given a parent room outside ICU. At about
10:00 P.M. I heard a little knock on the door,
and there was one of the nurses with our son all
bundled up and a big smile on his face. She
motioned for me to come with her quietly. I was
led to one of the isolation rooms in ICU, with
all the curtains drawn and pillows blocking the
bars of the bed. For the next two nights, this
would be our family bed. Our son immediately
curled up with me and fell asleep.
The
morning of surgery I was able to wake up with my
precious little boy beside me, knowing that
policy and procedure had been put aside, and that
the team in ICU had a "warm blanket"
that could cover all of our family.
Thanks
to the amazing ICU team! We will always cherish
the the "warm blanket"
you gave our family.
K.W.
|
My son had a rather
humorous "warm blanket"
prior to his fontan repair surgery at age 5. The
respiratory therapist, who Brad had gotten to
know quite well during the previous months in
ICU, came to see him the morning of his surgery.
Knowing the anxiety and tension Brad (and his dad
and I) were feeling, she proceeded to draw funny
faces on the bottom of his feet, commenting on
how surprised the doctors and nurses in the OR
would
be when they transferred him to the operating
table. It got Brad to giggling in happy
anticipation of their reactions! I would have
loved to have seen their faces!! What a great
send-off she gave us!On a more
serious note, I recall the time that his ICU
nurse was holding him and singing to him "My
Favorite Things" during a painful
tetracyline treatment in his chest tubes to slow
up a pleural effusion. We had been asked to leave
during the procedure, but when we returned we
found her hugging him and singing, with tears
rolling down her cheeks. He was in good hands.
We
have been very fortunate to have experienced many
"warm blankets"
during Brad's 18 years. His doctors and nurses
have invented balloons out of surgical gloves,
basketball games with urinals, even a "hit
list" of procedures he hated, like IV's and
removal of tape and bandages (which he squirted
with a squirt gun to vent his frustrations!).
There are many caring, dedicated health care
professionals out there, and their support has
not gone unnoticed or unappreciated! Despite the
many painful surgeries and procedures Brad has
endured, his most enduring memories of the
hospital have been of the happy ones!
P.B.
|
| I can't help but think of
this story I was told as my 3 day old baby boy
was in PICU with CHD.(Now he is almost 3 and
facing another open heart surgery next spring).
This is my own version and the author is unknown
to me, but the story goes something like this
(true or otherwise I'm not sure, but it offers
support to mothers who desperately want to hold
their infants in ICU's). A preemie infant lay
in his crib with all his tubes and connections,
unable to be held. His mother sat beside his crib
everyday wishing she could hold her baby boy.
Wanting her baby to feel her touch and know he
was loved. Because she was unable to hold and
touch her baby boy, she prayed every single day
that the angels would come wrap their arms around
her baby boy to keep him warm and give him hugs;
let him know he is loved. She prayed for this
everyday, until the day came when she could hold
and hug him herself.
As time went on, her baby boy was growing
strong. Everytime it rained the boy would stop to
"smell" the rain, and ask his mom if
she could smell that. "Smell What?" the
mother would ask. At such a young age the boy's
vocabulary wasn't large enough to explain.
Finally, one day when the boy was around the age
of 5 yrs, he and his mother were walking down the
sidewalk when it started to storm. The boy
stopped in his tracks and asked his mother,
"Do you smell that?". "Smell what?
The rain?", she asked. He turned to his
mother and said, " That is what is smells
like when the angels come and put their arms
around you to keep you safe and warm!!"
This is "a warm blanket"
to me. It may be helpful to parents who can not
hold their infants in their first days of life.
J.W.
|
Current Topic:
Parents Page 2
Parents Page 3
Parents Page 4
Parents Page 5
Parents Page 6
Adults and Teens Page 1
Adults and Teens Page 2
Health Professionals
Return to Family Room home page
|
