One Child's Story:

Each week at Lurie Children’s I spend my time holding, comforting, and playing with patients in the neonatal intensive care unit. Often times I will see the same patients week after week, and these cases help highlight the infants’ experiences and the assets of the hospital.

One patient, we’ll call her Sarah^*, provides a good example. Sarah, who is about seven months old, is one of the older babies in the NICU, but she has been there for almost her entire life. I visit with Sarah almost every week, because her family cannot visit often. This is a reality for many babies in the NICU, and patients throughout the entire hospital. That is, the children may spend months in the hospital and their loved ones cannot always visit frequently. Volunteers, such as myself, through the Child Life department, work to offer comfort and companionship to these children. A few times while I have been holding Sarah she has had severe coughing fits. One time, she coughed so much that it caused her to spit up some of the formula that she had ingested via a feeding tube. As that happened, the nurse explained that Sarah’s acid reflux frequently caused her to gag and cough, so that I would not be as worried that Sarah was coughing because she was having trouble breathing. Even after several coughing fits in a row, Sarah still smiles at me when I sing and talk to her, having someone’s attention just makes her so happy. I’ve seen all sorts of hospital staff come and go as I’ve sat holding Sarah, and it’s revealed how great of a team Lurie Children’s has. Between the doctors and nurses, the respiratory, speech, and physical therapists, and all of the other health care staff that work together to treat the patients, I have seen the care each one takes in their work. At the same time, these staff members work cooperatively with other areas of the hospital. Usually after holding Sarah for a little while, my supervisor has me take her down to the Brown Family Life Center for the infant play group. Tucked in the corner of the Brown Family Life Center is a small room designated specifically for infants and toddlers. This small room has a wall of toddler height mirrors, and soft mats lining the floor. Another Child Life supervisor runs the infant play group with a few of her own volunteers, so I usually drop Sarah off at the group for about an hour. After the play group, Sarah is usually tired out from all the fun, so I let her get some rest in her room, and find another child who needs care and attention. I love watching the progress Sarah makes each week, and the progress of the other patients, and in the end, I know this progress is thanks to such a cohesive team of professionals, hospital staff, and volunteers that utilize the incredible resources Lurie Children’s has to offer.

^*= Names and other personal characteristics were changed to maintain confidentiality

Photo Credit: Lurie Children's Facebook, please note, infant pictured is NOT the infant described in the story.