by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

Let me start by saying that just because you work at a children’s hospital does not mean that you will never need the services. As a matter of fact, there are many Le Bonheur associates that have also been parents of patients.  I can know say that my family has joined those ranks with both of my children.

Late Saturday afternoon, my son and daughter had been playing around and my daughter fell about 2 ½ feet off of a bed and hit her head on a hard floor.  There wasn’t any blood, but instead a bump and lots of crying.  Everything was going great until she started vomiting.

A quick call to her pediatrician’s office, and we were told to watch her.  However, if she vomited again, we were to talk her to Le Bonheur’s Emergency Department.  Needless to say, on Saturday night, (after dropping my son off at a friend’s house) my wife, daughter, and I made our way to Le Bonheur’s Emergency Department.

Now, I know what you may be thinking, “this guy works for Le Bonheur. I mean they did trust him with a blog.  So, of course he’s going to get the red carpet.”  My family did receive great service, but most people we interacted with had no idea I was associated with Le Bonheur.”  How, you ask.  Simply put, I normally wear ties at work, and for some reason, I’m hard to spot in a t-shirt and shorts.  Also, I was serving that night in the role of a parent.

The Emergency Department was busy, but the physician, Dr. Pollack, and the rest of the staff did a great job caring for my daughter.  They made sure that she (and mom and dad) understood what was going on.  They made sure she was comfortable, even bringing her a warm blanket.  Trust me, it wasn’t cold, but she does loved blankets.

When she had to have a CT Scan (or a “cat vision” as she later told her brother), Angie, the radiology technician, took the time to teach her about the scan.  My daughter was obviously nervous, and the extra time of letting her stuffed pig experience it first made all of the difference.  Now, as I write this from both a parent and child life specialist perspective, it makes me proud to know that professionals like Angie here at Le Bonheur.

So, why am I telling you about this?  Because I, like the rest of Le Bonheur Children’s staff, love this hospital. It’s rare that I’m on the other side of care.  I am amazed and proud of the experience, and grateful for the care we were given.  I trust in this hospital so much that I would bring my own child here.

Fortunately, it turns out that she’s fine.  Personally, I think she inherited a hard head from her father…