Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2007. Mattie's fifth birthday party was held at the National Zoo. It was quite the day with intense rain. I really thought Mattie's party was going to be a disaster. But it turned out as a real adventure. The kids loved touring the zoo in the rain and every animal was out and about for the kids to enjoy. In fact, given the torrential rain, I would say that we had the zoo to ourselves that day. It made for a very special and memorable day.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people diagnosed with the virus: 387,547
- number of people who have died from the virus: 12,291
Peter dropped Sunny off at the surgical center this morning at 7:30am. It is now 7pm, and poor Sunny just got into the operating room. He has been waiting ALL DAY, given the number of emergencies that came into the center today. Under normal circumstances, I would be livid. But given that we are dealing with the virus, most surgical centers closed down, and multiple dog fight victims that came in, we really have no other choice but to be patient. Sunny absolutely needs this surgery and we are lucky that this orthopedic surgeon is willing to fit Sunny into her schedule.
This morning I received an email from Adina, our child life specialist at Children's Hospital at Sinai (Baltimore, MD). She wanted to share a few photos and to also let me know that our ipad wheeled stands arrived. Not only have they arrived but they are already making a difference at the Hospital during the pandemic.
Adina shared this story with me, and I think it truly illustrates how vital her role is and the incredible difference she is making in the lives of children with cancer and their families..................................................
When a mom came to the emergency department over the weekend because she was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, she did not anticipate the turn of events that would separate her from her children.
She was admitted for respiratory support and her three children remained in the Pediatric Emergency Department over the weekend until a plan could be made for where they would go while their mother was being treated. When they were ultimately moved to the Pediatric inpatient unit, the child life team arranged comfort items in their room, including a variety of snacks and treats from the Mattie Miracle Snack & Item Cart.
The collaboration to normalize the hospital for these children was the combined effort of child life, nursing, doctors, and social work- the multidisciplinary team uniting during these difficult times.
Many times children and families get admitted to the hospital and do not have an ipad or laptop with them. This is a problem, because without these devices it gets harder to remain in communication with family and friends. The hospital has access to ipads, and they allow families to borrow them. But now with the wheeled stands, it is easier to bring these devices into patient rooms and secure the ipads so that they do not get misplaced or taken off campus. Now ipads can remain in patient rooms and when not in use, they can be cleaned and directed to another patient room in need of this technology. We know more than ever how crucial the internet and technology are during this pandemic. These devices keep us connected and sane.
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