Diane Bailey
December 2019
Diane
Bailey
,
BSN, RN
TICU
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Atlanta
,
GA
United States
I would like to tell you about a very special nurse who works in the Technology Dependent ICU. Diane Bailey has been more than just a nurse to many of our very special patients. I have seen her attempt to find placement for a service dog belonging to one of our families who no longer had housing to accommodate him. She also led her church last year in donating mobiles for our patients.
In recent months, we had the pleasure of taking care of a very special 10-year-old boy on our unit, waiting to find a hospital to approve him for a lung transplant. At 2 years of age, this child was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. He received treatment and made a complete recovery from cancer. Unfortunately, the treatment he received to cure his cancer adversely destroyed his lungs. Due to the extreme damage, his only chance for survival was a lung transplant.
During his stay in the TICU, Diane formed a very special bond with the boy as well as his family. One day the good news came that he was going to transfer to a hospital out of state to be evaluated for a transplant. The patient, family, and staff were ecstatic.
Diane happened to have a connection in this particular state to a very popular professional sports team. Diane decided to use her connections to make his dream of meeting these professional athletes come true. While the child was there, she arranged to have members of this team visit him in the hospital. He was smiling ear to ear, even though his work of breathing was becoming increasingly worse.
This patient was transported back to Egleston, unfortunately, without the good news we all wanted. A really long stay in an unfamiliar place for a little boy and his family to receive the news opposite of what they had hoped and prayed for, that all of us had hoped and prayed for. In this place of sorrow, sadness, and disappointment, Diane gave the gift of a beautiful memory to this little boy and his family.
The special little boy spent his last days with us. He passed away several weeks after returning to Egleston due to respiratory failure. Nothing can take away the sadness his family as well as our staff felt after his passing. I believe though, that the experience of having these athletes visit him in the hospital brought some happiness to a very sick little boy, and with this, a happy memory for his mom and his dad.
In recent months, we had the pleasure of taking care of a very special 10-year-old boy on our unit, waiting to find a hospital to approve him for a lung transplant. At 2 years of age, this child was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. He received treatment and made a complete recovery from cancer. Unfortunately, the treatment he received to cure his cancer adversely destroyed his lungs. Due to the extreme damage, his only chance for survival was a lung transplant.
During his stay in the TICU, Diane formed a very special bond with the boy as well as his family. One day the good news came that he was going to transfer to a hospital out of state to be evaluated for a transplant. The patient, family, and staff were ecstatic.
Diane happened to have a connection in this particular state to a very popular professional sports team. Diane decided to use her connections to make his dream of meeting these professional athletes come true. While the child was there, she arranged to have members of this team visit him in the hospital. He was smiling ear to ear, even though his work of breathing was becoming increasingly worse.
This patient was transported back to Egleston, unfortunately, without the good news we all wanted. A really long stay in an unfamiliar place for a little boy and his family to receive the news opposite of what they had hoped and prayed for, that all of us had hoped and prayed for. In this place of sorrow, sadness, and disappointment, Diane gave the gift of a beautiful memory to this little boy and his family.
The special little boy spent his last days with us. He passed away several weeks after returning to Egleston due to respiratory failure. Nothing can take away the sadness his family as well as our staff felt after his passing. I believe though, that the experience of having these athletes visit him in the hospital brought some happiness to a very sick little boy, and with this, a happy memory for his mom and his dad.