Photographer: Katie McDonnell www.howiwonderphotography.com
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Royal Day of Treatment
So I'm sharing this day a little later than I had anticipated, a few people have asked about me posting, so thanks for putting a little fire under my tush!
This was my 2nd time going to the Florida Children's Hospital to do a Royal Day of Treatment. Whatever patients are in the hospital on the day we arrive get to dress up like princesses or pirates/cowboys and put fake tattoos on, get their faces painted, hair & makeup done, nails painted. It really is a treat for them and the goal is to make them not feel sick for a day. And Cinderella comes to visit them! This all started from an actual mom who has a daughter that has been in and out of the hospital since she was little, having many surgeries. She works at Disney, so she gets Cinderella to come out & the Disney Photographers to take photos. Her mom and a few other women hand sew all the outfits, which are beautiful, and pray while they sew for the child who gets the outfit. Isn't that awesome?
Honestly, I wasn't sure about going because the first time I had a few bad weeks afterwards trying to cope & make sense of what I saw. It really broke my heart. It takes very special chosen people to work with sick, hurt or dying children. There are unimaginable situations happening, things we never would think of. So after experiencing the first visit, just going on a trip to the mall with Gracie was totally different, I remember every little thing I did afterwards I would think about the children & their moms, and what they were doing at the hospital, if they were okay.
So I'm on my way and was talking with Michele in MN and Todd's car started shaking & making a weird noise. Right away I was like, oh good, I don't have to go, the car is about to break down on I4, so I pulled off the next exit (I was one exit away from the hospital exit) (yes, seriously mental I know) and turned around to go home. Trying to make excuses of the fact the car was being weird and I really was being wishy washy about going. I made it home, and realized I really did need to go. Got in my car and on the way said a prayer and thought it's not about me it's about them.
(and nothing was wrong with Todd's car, he said it does that occasionally because it's old)
As soon as I got there, I knew I was meant to be there. They had assigned me to go to ICU because they remembered last time I worked with a 3 year old girl who was in the middle of a treatment, she had cancer and barely any hair on her head. She was sleeping so peacefully & looked so sweet. I put sparkle blush on her cheeks and lip gloss on her little lips, dressed her in a princess hat and had to fight back tears the entire time. Patients like her were the reason why we were going back that day. Even though she was asleep, she would soon awake and see all the pretty things someone left for her and I'm sure it made her day brighter.
On my way to ICU I learned there weere two kids, brother & sister, boy is 1 and girl is 3 had been in some sort of accident and were on life support. The mother & family were there and the situation didn’t look promising for them to live. And here I was to dress up these babies and mom as well to cheer her up. WOW. I can’t say I’d want someone to come dress me up like a princess while my children are on life support. We were in the elevator putting on a brave face before getting to the unit. I was nervous to meet the mom, but she was very sweet and excited about what we were doing. Something so simple did put a smile on her face. She was eager to first go into her daughter and paint her fingernails. As I looked in the glass window I saw such a little body lying in bed with machines & tubes hooked to her. Taped to the window were pictures of her before the accident, so full of life, which I think was even harder to see. So they dressed her up in a princess outfit, painted her nails and took pictures of her. Then I went & put a tattoo on the baby boy's arm and his mom put a bandana around his head. He looked like a macho dude. I couldn't imagine what happened to these little kids, they just looked like they were sleeping. A thousand questions rushed through my mind and I couldn't say a thing, you just have to do what you're there to do. I did the mom's hair and I listened to her talk to her family members. I finished her off with a tiara to match her daughter and she looked beautiful with her makeup on. She had a smile on her face, excited for her husband to come & see them all dressed up.
There was another girl in ICU who had an oxygen mask on. She was able to talk to us, which was nice. She was definitely excited about seeing us and choosing her outfit. I got her dressed and ready for Cinderella, yes THE CINDERELLA from Disney World to visit her. I told her I was so jealous!
Then we made a visit to a girl who is 8 years old on the pediatric floor. She had surgery and her head was wrapped in gauze padding. She was sitting in her bed with silky pink pj's, a leopard pillow and a red fuzzy blanket. This was my kinda girl, she was already glam! She had fun choosing her outfits and coordinating them, she didn't want makeup on because she said she looked like an old man with this "thing" on her head. She was a breath of fresh air for me, being the last girl I visited and knew that she was soon to go home.
There were other kids able to walk around and come into the main room to get their faces painted. One boy was in a wheelchair and had no legs, he had his face painted and couldn't wait to go down to the lobby to show off, he was full of energy and fun. There were other children in the cancer unit I didn't see that had been made up. So it was a great day for everyone...so glad I went! God bless the hospital staff for their efforts every day.
This was my 2nd time going to the Florida Children's Hospital to do a Royal Day of Treatment. Whatever patients are in the hospital on the day we arrive get to dress up like princesses or pirates/cowboys and put fake tattoos on, get their faces painted, hair & makeup done, nails painted. It really is a treat for them and the goal is to make them not feel sick for a day. And Cinderella comes to visit them! This all started from an actual mom who has a daughter that has been in and out of the hospital since she was little, having many surgeries. She works at Disney, so she gets Cinderella to come out & the Disney Photographers to take photos. Her mom and a few other women hand sew all the outfits, which are beautiful, and pray while they sew for the child who gets the outfit. Isn't that awesome?
Honestly, I wasn't sure about going because the first time I had a few bad weeks afterwards trying to cope & make sense of what I saw. It really broke my heart. It takes very special chosen people to work with sick, hurt or dying children. There are unimaginable situations happening, things we never would think of. So after experiencing the first visit, just going on a trip to the mall with Gracie was totally different, I remember every little thing I did afterwards I would think about the children & their moms, and what they were doing at the hospital, if they were okay.
So I'm on my way and was talking with Michele in MN and Todd's car started shaking & making a weird noise. Right away I was like, oh good, I don't have to go, the car is about to break down on I4, so I pulled off the next exit (I was one exit away from the hospital exit) (yes, seriously mental I know) and turned around to go home. Trying to make excuses of the fact the car was being weird and I really was being wishy washy about going. I made it home, and realized I really did need to go. Got in my car and on the way said a prayer and thought it's not about me it's about them.
(and nothing was wrong with Todd's car, he said it does that occasionally because it's old)
As soon as I got there, I knew I was meant to be there. They had assigned me to go to ICU because they remembered last time I worked with a 3 year old girl who was in the middle of a treatment, she had cancer and barely any hair on her head. She was sleeping so peacefully & looked so sweet. I put sparkle blush on her cheeks and lip gloss on her little lips, dressed her in a princess hat and had to fight back tears the entire time. Patients like her were the reason why we were going back that day. Even though she was asleep, she would soon awake and see all the pretty things someone left for her and I'm sure it made her day brighter.
On my way to ICU I learned there weere two kids, brother & sister, boy is 1 and girl is 3 had been in some sort of accident and were on life support. The mother & family were there and the situation didn’t look promising for them to live. And here I was to dress up these babies and mom as well to cheer her up. WOW. I can’t say I’d want someone to come dress me up like a princess while my children are on life support. We were in the elevator putting on a brave face before getting to the unit. I was nervous to meet the mom, but she was very sweet and excited about what we were doing. Something so simple did put a smile on her face. She was eager to first go into her daughter and paint her fingernails. As I looked in the glass window I saw such a little body lying in bed with machines & tubes hooked to her. Taped to the window were pictures of her before the accident, so full of life, which I think was even harder to see. So they dressed her up in a princess outfit, painted her nails and took pictures of her. Then I went & put a tattoo on the baby boy's arm and his mom put a bandana around his head. He looked like a macho dude. I couldn't imagine what happened to these little kids, they just looked like they were sleeping. A thousand questions rushed through my mind and I couldn't say a thing, you just have to do what you're there to do. I did the mom's hair and I listened to her talk to her family members. I finished her off with a tiara to match her daughter and she looked beautiful with her makeup on. She had a smile on her face, excited for her husband to come & see them all dressed up.
There was another girl in ICU who had an oxygen mask on. She was able to talk to us, which was nice. She was definitely excited about seeing us and choosing her outfit. I got her dressed and ready for Cinderella, yes THE CINDERELLA from Disney World to visit her. I told her I was so jealous!
Then we made a visit to a girl who is 8 years old on the pediatric floor. She had surgery and her head was wrapped in gauze padding. She was sitting in her bed with silky pink pj's, a leopard pillow and a red fuzzy blanket. This was my kinda girl, she was already glam! She had fun choosing her outfits and coordinating them, she didn't want makeup on because she said she looked like an old man with this "thing" on her head. She was a breath of fresh air for me, being the last girl I visited and knew that she was soon to go home.
There were other kids able to walk around and come into the main room to get their faces painted. One boy was in a wheelchair and had no legs, he had his face painted and couldn't wait to go down to the lobby to show off, he was full of energy and fun. There were other children in the cancer unit I didn't see that had been made up. So it was a great day for everyone...so glad I went! God bless the hospital staff for their efforts every day.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
New Beginnings
Memoir: A narrative composed from personal experience, an account of something noteworthy.
This word came to me today as I was driving home from the Florida Children's Hospital, inspired by a day of Royal Treatment to the children on the Pediatric floor. (This will soon be the 1st experience I share :)
Let me back up and first say that many of you bloggers have asked or suggested that I start a blog. Honestly, the thought overwhelmed me, what could be interesting about me or my life that others would want to read, on top of that, I couldn't figure out a blog name. Then a few suggested I should have a blog about the people I work with, the experiences I have. This sounded like fun. I like to write, but I'll forewarn you I'm not a great writer. (I'll also post about the Field house and updates of little Gracie!)
Memoirs of a Butterfly is about the transforming beauty of the people I work with. On the inside and out!
I hope you share with me the joy and not so joyous (calling all Bridezillas!) moments of the journey!
This word came to me today as I was driving home from the Florida Children's Hospital, inspired by a day of Royal Treatment to the children on the Pediatric floor. (This will soon be the 1st experience I share :)
Let me back up and first say that many of you bloggers have asked or suggested that I start a blog. Honestly, the thought overwhelmed me, what could be interesting about me or my life that others would want to read, on top of that, I couldn't figure out a blog name. Then a few suggested I should have a blog about the people I work with, the experiences I have. This sounded like fun. I like to write, but I'll forewarn you I'm not a great writer. (I'll also post about the Field house and updates of little Gracie!)
Memoirs of a Butterfly is about the transforming beauty of the people I work with. On the inside and out!
I hope you share with me the joy and not so joyous (calling all Bridezillas!) moments of the journey!
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