Tonight's picture was taken on Peter's birthday (November 13) in 2008. Quite a sight for one's birthday. Mattie had his second limb salvaging surgery the day before. It was a long long surgery, over 12 hours. As you can see, I parked myself on Mattie's bed and kept a close eye on him as he was dealing with intense pain and of course seeing all these wires and tubes connected to one's self is scary. Not to mention that two out of his four limbs were in casts.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 47,863,314
- Number of people who died from the virus: 772,260
In between chores and tasks, I started with my day with a conference call. I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Georgetown University Hospital's ONLY psychologist for cancer patients. You heard that correctly, one professional for tons of patients. That may sound awful, but some hospitals don't even have one of these psychosocial clinicians. Which is remarkable and pathetic at the same time.
I connected with this psychologist, because I learned that Mattie's hospital is using our Psychosocial Standards of Care to design their pediatric psychosocial program from the ground up. When I heard this, I felt so many emotions. One of which was being proud, as Mattie's suffering has to have MEANING. This psychologist and I are on the same page and we are talking the same language. My hope is that the institution will use Mattie Miracle as a resource, and I hope this is the start of our continued relationship. Needless to say, this call was exactly what I needed today. It made me focus and discuss something I am passionate about, rather than what my days are typically like which is inundated with physical chores and dealing with house and moving issues. For an hour I felt like a professional and a person who had something meaningful to contribute.
Of course that feeling doesn't last long. As soon as I got off the phone, I had to run chores to the bank, post office, grocery store, help my dad throw out paperwork, cook, and the list goes on. I keep grounding myself, by remembering what it was like trapped in a PICU when Mattie was coping with cancer. Back then, I longed for the day when I would be free to do mundane everyday tasks. Everything is relative and Mattie's illness taught me so much about life that had absolutely nothing to do with cancer.
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