In less than a week, on September 26, my family and I will be supporting SickKids Hospital in Toronto by taking part in The Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk. This is my second post to help raise awareness and share some experiences of others who were treated at SickKids.
In my first post, I shared Reese’s SickKids story and today, I’m sharing Hudson’s. I am beyond grateful that Deirdre, a first time mom to beautiful Hudson, has graciously agreed to share their story. I hope that after reading this story you will agree that we’re so fortunate to have access to such a great organization and I encourage you to support my team, Camp Fitz. You can donate HERE!
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Someone wise once told me, “Everything works out in the end. If it seems things haven’t worked out yet, you’re not at the end.”
What great things can I say about Sick Kids Hospital that haven’t been said before? Even parent’s who’s stories don’t have such a happy ending as ours often have nothing but praise for this wonderful establishment and its health care teams. Although an ill child is the patient on record, these amazing doctors, nurses, technicians, and therapists in fact have multiple patients, often looking after moms and dads, siblings, grandmas and grandpas well beings, which is why I constantly find myself saying “our hospital stay” or “we were in hospital”. If it takes a village to raise a child it takes a metropolis to nurture a sick child, and our family will be eternally indebted to these special care givers for the help we are receiving.
The beginning of our story is summarized beautifully in this email my husband wrote to our concerned family and friends a few days after our son’s birth.
Hello Family and Friends,
Deirdre and I would like to apologise for not returning your concerned emails, phone calls, and texts. Our miracle of life, Hudson, came into the world early Monday morning and as many of you know being a new parent there is little time for rest during the early stages of your child’s life, and even less when there are health concerns.
Early in the morning the day that Hudson was born we noticed that he was having difficulty eating and breathing at the same time. After spending 3 days in the NICU at St. Mike’s for constant monitoring of his heart rate, breathing rate, and oxygen levels we had an appointment yesterday at Sick Kids Hospital where a team of specialists identified Hudson’s challenge as Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS).
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001607.htm
Pierre Robin Sequence is characterized by:
1. Small lower jaw (but will develop normally eventually)
2. Tongue further back in the mouth
3. Airway and breathing difficulties
4. Cleft palate 85% of the time (Hudson has a cleft palate)Hudson is currently admitted in the NICU at Sick Kids and is progressing really well. Sick Kids is the largest and best hospital in Canada with managing PRS and the 3rd largest in North America. We are confident that with these expertise that we will be able to bring Hudson home safely. Unfortunately there is no timeline associated with coming home at this point. This will be dictated when Hudson is breathing well, gaining weight, safely bottle feeding, and has controlled gastrointestinal reflux.We will do our best to try to provide updates and we really appreciate the love, support, and concern that you all have shown for our family. We will keep you posted as to what the visitor status is at Sick Kids but for at least the next few days we won’t be able to have company. Please feel free to forward this note/explanation to other concerned family & friends.
Love,
Deirdre, Aaron, and Hudson
Little did we know we’d be spending every day for the next four and a half months in the constant observation 4 bed hospital room in the Plastic Surgery unit, which we affectionately refer to as “the penthouse” on the top floor at The Hospital for Sick Children.
Hudson recently hit a milestone in his life: his 9 month birthday. Except for maybe changing into the next size sleeper, normally parents don’t mark this date on the calendar. For us, however, it marked the first time that Hudson has spent more of his life outside hospital than in it. Our challenge is far from over, with at least two more surgeries for Hudson on the horizon but knowing we have, in my family’s opinion, the top care team in the world looking after us at SickKids, we are confident that, as wise people know, everything will work out in the end.
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Show your family’s support and gratitude for SickKids while having tons of fun during a day full of camp-like activities. Join me and my family and countless other by taking part in The Great Camp Adventure Walk to benefit SickKids. Enjoy a full day of adventure, designed so anyone and everyone can participate. Challenge-by-Choice event lets you to challenge yourself to walk 5 km, 10 km, 15 km or 20 km with opportunities to stop at fun “campsites” (activities) along the way. SickKids goal for 2015 is to raise over $2 million and with your help, they can do it. All donations go directly to The Possibilities Fund at SickKids Foundation. For SickKids, it’s the most flexible source of funding, and therefore one with the most potential to transform children’s health. Register and use promo code ‘social‘ to receive a $10 discount off The Great Camp Adventure Walk registration fee!
Influence Central The Great Camp Adventure Contest
Enter for your chance to win 1 of 5 $100 donations to a team of your choosing, and an additional $100 for the winner themselves!
Enter below:
The Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids Promotion Contest
Disclosure: I am part of the Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids campaign with Influence Central and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. However, I chose to donate it all back to SickKids. The opinions on this blog are my own.
[…] year, I shared two family’s stories about their experience at SickKids (HERE and HERE). Since then, I’ve heard of several other instances where friends and acquaintances have had […]