Tonight's picture was taken on December 22, 2008. Mattie was sitting on the floor of his PICU room playing with a tub of water and toys. Instead of getting up, his favorite nurse, Tricia got down on the floor to flush his central line. By that point, Tricia understood Mattie very well and had gone through a great deal with us. Tricia was one of the first nurses I met on the floor and I will never forget the time during his first week of chemotherapy when Mattie had an outburst. He literally threw me against the door and started hitting me. Then he told me he hated me. It was not a pretty scene in our room. I was stunned and so stressed out and exhausted. Tricia could have easily walked out of the room and left us to battle this one out alone. But she did not! Instead, she told Mattie that he did not mean what he was saying and said we both needed rest. She walked each of us to Mattie's bed and tucked us in together. I of course was in tears because I was hurt, I did not know how to help Mattie, and I was absolutely worn out from living in a hospital room. It was that special moment that Tricia spent with us, that enabled me to see the stuff she was made of, not only as a nurse but as a compassionate person. Tricia understood not only Mattie, but my whole family and advocated for all of us throughout our entire time at the Hospital. This is a person I will always be indebted to.
Quote of the day: If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never ever dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person. ~ Fred Rogers
Pictured from left to right: Dr. Goldberg, Ann, Vicki, Linda Kim (Mattie's Child Life Specialist), and Peter
We had the opportunity to thank everyone for coming this morning. I explained what our $30,000 donation would be used for this year. A NEW initiative!!! Weekends are very isolating in the hospital for children and families in the in-patient units. In so many ways, the hospital is like a ghost town on Saturdays and Sundays, and the child life playroom is locked up, families do not have access to the toys and items inside the playroom, and there are no child life specialists on hand during the weekends to help break up the the long and tedious hours. Therefore, we are committed to hiring a child life professional who will cover weekends at the hospital and provide support to families who are in-patient. This is a much needed resource and thanks to our supporters this is all possible!!!
being shared, because Tricia wanted us to know that not a day goes by when she doesn't remember Mattie and she also acknowledged Mattie Miracle and all that we do for the Hospital. Tricia has and continues to be on this journey with us and her understanding of our family brought many of us to tears.
This second photo was taken on the first floor of the hospital. I am thrilled that this poster is still in the Children's Art gallery. Now five years later! Mattie created this story, during a time period when children and parents were asked to design and create their ideal hospital room. We could write about it, draw it, create a model, or do with this project as we pleased. Mattie wrote a story and also created a Lego model of his ideal hospital! Mattie's ideal hospital had an outdoor component for kids to play in! Which is why one of my ideas for Georgetown has always been to create an outdoor play space. But I haven't gotten too far with selling this idea to the administration, but for Mattie and I escaping the inner confines of the Hospital and getting fresh air were vital for our physical and mental health and in a way this need for freedom was captured in his story and in his Lego model.
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