I am writing you in appreciation for the treatment our 9-year-old son, E, received at Edward Hospital. E has a rare genetic disorder and has a frequent flyer card at Edward Hospital as his condition has required multiple hospital stays. This admission, however, was different from the many respiratory-related admission we have experienced at Edward Hospital. The staff at Edward approached us with the difficult discussion that maybe it was time to consider getting E a tracheostomy to aid in maintaining healthy respiratory function. As parents, we knew that a tracheostomy might become a necessity at some point, but hearing the news that we were at that point was very difficult. The physicians and nurses did an excellent job of providing us with information about the process as well as stressing that the tracheostomy would make E more comfortable and safe in the home setting and his quality of life would improve. This perspective helped change our mindset because E's comfort and safety have always been our greatest concerns. We were given lots of reading materials concerning tracheostomy placement and care and on-line videos to watch concerning the procedure and after-care. One of the nurses, Loni, has an adult daughter who had received a tracheostomy tube several years earlier and was very open and honest providing a parent perspective as well as a medical perspective. I am so proud to say that E has had a few respiratory infections this fall and winter which we have been able to care for at home and have not required hospitalization.
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Loni had a 22-month-old patient that was admitted with a fever of unknown origin. The patient was sent to radiology for a CT scan and brought back to the unit around shift change at 7 pm. As the night went on, Loni was reviewing the patient's chart and noticed that the results of the CT scan were back and read the findings. There was an unknown mass in the abdomen. Loni quickly called the attending physician who was unaware of the findings. The patient was kept the rest of the night and the physician arrived at the hospital first thing in the morning to talk with the parents and transfer the patient out to one of our partnering hospitals to meet with the Pediatric Oncologist.