Things I Learned at Primary Childrens

I had a lot of time to ponder while I was at the hospital with my son last week. The light hurt his eyes and noise was also an issue. So, we basically sat in a dark, quiet room. After the craziness of my life with school and moving and everything else that has happened over the past year, it has been a LONG time since I have just sat and done nothing.

So, while I was there, my brain was thinking about all that we were experiencing while we were at our stay in the Neurological Trauma Unit at Primary Children's hospital.

Here are some things that stuck with me:

*The parent "beds" are not beds at all, but rather some kind of a torture device.

*Being admitted through the ER Trauma room was quite the experience. We were whisked into a room with about 10 or so nurses, doctors, surgeons, and even a social worker. It was seriously like a scene from ER.

*The Life Flight plane is about the fastest way you can get up north. I have flown on planes up there before, but this was the fastest I have ever gotten there!

*The food. Well, the food for my son was anything that he wanted. Not that it mattered, because he was too sick to eat. The food for us. Cafeteria. It wasn't awful, but I certainly wouldn't want to eat it everyday.

*CAFFEINE FREE DIET COKE! YES! The cafeteria had fountain drinks and they actually had decaf diet coke. It almost made me cry! I was so happy!

*There are a lot of people up there that are worse off than you. When I saw all of the little kids up there in the Neuro Trauma Unit that had had brain surgery and were recuperating from things much worse than we were, I was thankful and sad at the same time. Thankful it wasn't us, sad that it was them.

*Shared bathrooms, not for parents. In the room we were in, it was a private room, but it had a shared bathroom. The shared bathroom was only for the patients. Not the parents. We had to go out and down the hall to a bathroom. It was a busy bathroom! Only one stall. Every time I went to use it, I had to wait because someone else was in it. Word to the wise, don't wait until the last second, give yourself plenty of time if you need to go because you don't know how long you will be waiting. Once you finally do get in, don't plan on being in there long. About the time you sit down, someone else will be knocking to try and get in.

*Teaching hospitals. What a great concept. Just be prepared if you are staying there that you will have a Doctor and his "posse" there. The Doc walks in and behind him walk 5-8 interns to poke and prod at you. My son was so funny. One night he said, "I am just so sick of being poked at all the time! Why can't they just let me sleep?"

*We met more doctors, surgeons, nurses, interns, nurse assistants, social workers, education specialists, etc. during our stay there than I have in my entire life.

*The staff was wonderful. They really did have my son's best interest and comfort at heart. Everyone was so great to work with. They always kept us up to date on what was happening and made sure we understood everything that was going on. I always felt like my son was in good hands.

*Finally, I hope to NEVER have to go back for an extended stay. Knock on wood! Here is hoping that my kids can just stay happy, healthy, and accident free for a LONG LONG time to come!