Being in the hospital is a terrifying and overwhelming experience. Five days into a difficult and emotionally challenging hospitalization, I was completely spent. I held my 3-month-old son tightly in my arms, tears rolling down my face, and felt defeated, scared, and helpless. At a time when we had hoped to be over the hill and on the road to recovery, we found ourselves wondering why our son was not rebounding.
He wasn't eating, looked weak and puny, and was not the happy baby we knew. We spoke with his care team, voiced our concerns, and hoped they would hear us out. To our dismay, the only option presented to us was the extreme intervention of placing another NG tube to see if that would help perk him up. Our son had not tolerated previous NG tube placement well, and the thought of putting him through that again was agonizing. My mom-gut wrenched and ached, feeling that was not the right thing to do but at that point, I felt defeated. We felt there had to be a less invasive step, but this was a new world for us.
That's when a true healthcare hero walked into our lives. As I paced the room, tears rolling down my face, I suddenly felt a warm embrace. It was the last thing I ever expected but the one thing I truly needed. In a time when a simple embrace seems so taboo, she was there for us. She understood what we were feeling. Her compassion lifted me up and shed hope on what I felt was nothing but despair.
She listened, she took action, and she used her skills and experience to be a patient advocate. She understood us and communicated with both us and the team to find a solution that best fit everyone. It was because of her voice, her advocacy, and her caring nature that we were able to bypass another NG tube, get IV fluids, and within 24 hours, we're receiving our discharge papers. Because of Chloe, our amazing nurse, our advocate, our voice for our child, we were able to go home and begin a new chapter with our son.