Hello, I am a mom. I am in no way a medical professional. I have two toddler boys. My oldest son, now 4, was born at 25 weeks. After some complications and a long NICU stay, he was diagnosed with short bowel syndrome. His name is Owen. He is our miracle.
Owen has spent about 1year 7months total in the hospital out of 4years 4 months of life. Now, that is not a horrible amount compared to some families. It averages out to almost 5 months per year. However, I have been with him every minute of those 19months and have learned how to make the stay bearable. Now, our experiences are limited. The majority of his stays have been in one hospital. He has been admitted to 3 others. One children's hospital in another state which was also a research hospital, one hospital that doesn't have a pediatric unit at all so they put children only in the ICU, and one small hospital with a small pediatric unit. With that experience I say, not all my opinions/advice/observations will be applicable to every hospital, child, or situation you might find yourself in. This is simply me, a concerned mom, putting my thoughts out there to maybe improve a child's stay in the hospital, give a mom the confidence she needs to stand up for what her child needs, or give a hospital employee the opportunity to see what they do and what it looks like to patients and their families.
I hope to use this blog as a resource for families and hospital staff alike. I would like to share my experiences. How to deal with ER visits, who is who: who are all these people coming into my child's room in 20minute intervals (residents, nurses, interns, attending. . . ), how to be a polite roommate if your child's in a shared room, to nurses:how to be a night nurse every family will love, what NOT to do as a nurse, how to approach a family with a chronically ill child, to parents: what to expect from a nurse, remember you always get more respect when you use sugar instead of vinegar, etc.
I am excited to start this blog. I have always wanted to write something to help parents and nurses survive the hospital stay together and I have many wonderful and horrible experiences. My hope is that something good will come from me sharing these thoughts with the world. If you have and questions, comments, or maybe even a subject you would like me to write about, please don't hesitate to contact me.
