My daughter was admitted to Scottish Rite for orbital cellulitis. Five weeks later she finally had the PICC line removed from her arm and is home doing well. Our daughter's condition totally caught my husband and me off guard. It came on so fast and took so long to go away with ongoing setbacks at every turn. I wanted to take a moment to express our appreciation for the doctors and nurses at Scottish Rite. Besides doing everything they could for our daughter medically, many took the time to love on her personally. It could have been as simple as just talking to her, bringing her an art kit, or taking the time to play a game of Connect Four.
In particular, I would like to acknowledge the work of the second-floor nurses. Most of the nurses we had come from the 2nd floor and upon our daughter's second admission into Scottish Rite, we were actually placed on that floor.
Our daughter was discharged the first time around. When we got home she started running a fever and within 24 hours we made two visits back to the ER and on the second visit, she was readmitted. Another MRI revealed a significant blockage in various sinuses and inflammation of the dura, and she was most likely going in for a 3rd surgery. She was doing okay so my husband and I traded places at Scottish Rite in the evening. Around 1:00 AM her fever spiked, she experienced brutal chills and fever and threw up.
Our night nurse Ashley was so calm and so attentive to our needs. She got us the meds she needed, checked on us continuously, and cleaned up the mess created. I'm sure she didn't think of her service to us as something out of the norm, but for me as a physically and emotionally exhausted mom who could do very little to help her child, this nurse was truly a Godsend! I remember her sharing enough to know she had a 3-year-old son. I think she empathized with us and she truly gave thought to our daughter's needs, and she never got distracted. I don't recall us ever having the same nurse twice in a row, but we had this nurse for a second night and it just happened to be the night after our daughter's 3rd and most extensive surgery. There is no way to express the relief and gratitude I felt having this nurse again! She had walked through one of the toughest nights with us. She came in that evening having already given consideration to our daughter's care (through the day on her own personal time), and I felt confident in her abilities to get us through another night! Ashley was truly a blessing!
To all...Thank you again for all that you did for our child and for our family. May God continue to use this facility, these nurses, and medical staff across the nation to help and bless families like ours going through difficult and uncertain times. As I write this email, I'm finding myself getting very emotional and tearing up.