Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2009. I remember this moment in time very distinctly! Mattie was having a rough day and then Dr. Gonzales came into his room and she wanted to examine him. Mattie did not want to have any part of this and wanted the doctor out of the room. Clearly the easier option would have been if Dr. Gonzales turned around and left the room. But that was NOT what she did. Dr. Gonzales did not work with Mattie often, but she is bright and understands the art of medicine. She quickly deduced that Mattie was intrigued by things and how they worked. When her pager went off in Mattie's room, it caught his attention. Instead of hiding her device, she took it out, showed it to him, and the next thing I knew she and Mattie were paging people ALL over the hospital. Not only did they build an instant rapport, but Mattie let her examine him. There were long term benefits from this beautiful encounter as well. Dr. Gonzales was the only attending physician that truly believed Mattie had pain and never denied him pain medication. She had the instinct he wasn't fabricating pain. She was 100% correct!
Quote of the day: God created birthdays, because the world couldn't exist without you. ~ Unknown
When I arrived at the Hospital, I pulled over by the curb in order to drop off materials. I was parked in a red (tow away) zone. As is typical, whenever I do this, I get a talking to by security. So today, as soon as I pulled over, no surprise to me..... security came over to me. However, the security officer on duty was Jey. When Jey saw me we both started laughing because I knew he wasn't going to move me away.
Jey was Mattie's radiology transport assistant at the Hospital (meaning that Jey wheeled Mattie from his room to all his scans), but they became close to one another and Jey always referred to Mattie as his "little brother." Jey was outstanding with Mattie, and he understood right from the beginning that Mattie was scared and in pain and that scanning was challenging for Mattie. Jey became a fierce supporter of Mattie and of Peter and me. Whenever we were in the hospital, which was often, Jey would come to the pediatric unit to visit us. For Jey, his work is NOT just a job. But a part of him. After Mattie died, Jey left the radiology department. He was absolutely heart broken about Mattie, and did not want to work with anymore children. Jey now works hospital security and whenever I am on campus, we always have a chance encounter. Jey never hesitates to talk about Mattie and always acknowledges us for all we do for Georgetown. Jey is always a highlight of my hospital visits! He helps me keep Mattie alive.
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