"Thank you"

I would like to thank Bunbury Hospital for accepting my child as a patient.

There have been many admissions over almost 20 years when they were transferred from another hospital or admitted here due to bed shortage.

It’s very important to both of us to make sure people know how much we appreciate the support.

Thank you to Dr Harvey for accepting my child as a patient and thank you to all paediatricians who have cared for my child, including Steve and Mark.

Thank you, Dr Lila and Cheryl, too, for the most exceptional care we have ever received in my child’s lifetime.

Thank you also to the nurses who have cared for my child in Paeds. Jodie, for around 19 years of care, and Tanya, for engaging with Nicky in the Medical Ward for organising home IV’s.

Thank you Dr O, for your amazing care whilst in Medical Ward recently.

Thank you so much for listening to my concerns regarding my child’s issues with infusion rates and slowing them down.

Thank you to Joan the ward clerk in ED who always remembers us and asks how my child's going their whole lifetime.

I want to apologise to the phlebotomists who come to take bloods only to be told that my child has extreme anxiety towards cannulas and veinous blood draws and thank you for listening to my child when they politely explained that they can’t have needles just yet.

Thank you to our GP for amazing care for my child from birth through to late primary school.

Thank you to our GP in Carey Park for treating my child like a VIP too.

And thank you to our new GP, you make clinic visits so much more fun and less scary for my child.

Thank you to the ALO’s for visiting us during admissions. Sometimes you’re our only visitors aside from dad and sibling.

Thank you to the infusion lounge nurses for making my child’s IVIg infusions such a pleasant experience every month and for considering their extra special needs.

I would like to thank every health care professional involved in our care for taking the time to read our ‘about me’ profile and my action plans for each procedure. Because of this, I feel my child’s anxiety is reduced substantially every admission.

We, the long term patients, or frequent flyers, or what my child’s often referred to as VIP (very important patient), carers and family have heard everything a thousand times, we watch our children have unsuccessful accesses, wrong sized cannulas inserted, extreme anxiety, panic attacks and so much more in our child’s lifetime that we can become a bitter person or a better person.

I do try to choose the latter.

What kills us, based on my experience, is repetition.

Having to repeat history 3 to four times on admission, having to repeat medications and remember every one of them, remembering every adverse reaction and allergy, and having to advocate for our child even into adulthood.

Bare with us.

I believe our children aren’t just your average patient in a bed. Some will struggle with being in hospital away from daddy and siblings, away from their pets and even their gaming console.

We don’t get as many visitors as other patients seem to and sometimes we don’t get any because “he/she is in hospital again, meh”.

We appreciate staff and the head honchos for accepting us at our regional hospitals when we need to stay close to home.

We have other children and some of them are struggling with mental health watching their sibling getting sicker, being admitted more frequently to the point where Mummy has to choose who is top priority at a moment’s notice.

I asked to be admitted locally so I could be there for both my children and although we have spent Christmases in another hospital and enjoyed ourselves, we never know if this Christmas could be our last Christmas.

I honestly cannot express how grateful we are to be able to do home IVs and spend Christmas at home as a family.

I’m so grateful to have been taught IV competency and port needle competency.

Never thought I’d ever be able to do what I do, and now my child usually wants me to needle their port.

One good thing about facing a lot more disappointment than the average child, missing out on camps, not being invited to parties, and things not going our way many times over the years has in fact taught my child resilience, to expect changes and that even though we have a Plan A, that we need to be ready for Plan B and even Plan C.

A very merry Christmas to everyone and all the best for 2022.