sangtarah Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 One of my kids has been hospitalized for a week with no eta of when we can leave. What do you do to keep your spirits up through a hospital stay with a child? Mostly I’m staying in the room, dh may switch off for a night if he can work it out with work. So far, I’ve not eaten much, scrolled far too much, and tried to keep on holding things together. PS. I’m very sorry my Christmas cards to the hive didn’t get out - we have being dealing with this child’s illnesses non-stop the past several months and I feel like Gumby - constantly stretched out in every direction. 40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 I’m so sorry. While I’ve had kids hospitalized for up to 6 weeks, it was always a two steps forward, one step back situation, where they were slowly improving. I’m not sure I have any good advice. I’ve said a prayer for your peace & your child’s healing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 We are discharging today after a 2 week stay. Our longest stay was 5 weeks. I am also a peds oncology nurse, so I work with a lot of families that are in the hospital for weeks and months. The scrolling is inevitable. I try and bring meaningful things to work on but despite having lots of "free" time, I am rarely successful at doing anything of substance while we are here. Dh and I have worked out a pattern of him bringing me Starbucks for breakfast every morning (this is a luxury) and then I will often run home for a rest and shower while DH works from the hospital. I do most of the overnights because DH has an injured back and I don't think he would survive the sleeper chair. I would like to stick with one patient and not 2. Try to eat and drink. Ask the nurses for a food tray (they may be able to provide one, depending on the facility). Try to walk outdoors once a day. Let your dh do what he can. It can be hard to leave the hospital, especially if you feel like the more medically capable parent, but for your own self care, you need to take breaks. Let people bring you food. I do a lot of phone calls. It helps me pass the time. Praying for answers and healing for your daughter. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Huge hugs Sending positive thoughts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 We have spent months at a time…..both with kids and for my own hospitalizations. After a while, you find a rhythm and routine. The shorter stints <2 weeks are harder to cope with, especially if it’s your first few rounds of medical stuff. Ped Oncology floors tend to be easier because they are set up for longer stays—they tend to have laundry facilities, meal tickets for families that can be purchased, and some sort of kid activity schedule through child life. Academic work can also take up a chunk of the day. Being in smaller hospitals for other reasons is more challenging. My best advice is to be present in the moment…present in engaging with your kid outside of all of the medical chaos that surrounds you. Find moments of connection and enjoyment. If you are in it for the long haul, then find a routine you can continue whether you are in or out of the hospital—pizza and a movie on Friday nights, or Tuesday spa night or Wednesday discord games with friends….whatever it is. You need markers of time and routine to help provide a sense of stability. Best wishes to you and yours! 11 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 I forgot—try to keep a bag of candy for the nurses. We kept an open bowl—it was a moment of connection that proved helpful for a variety of reasons. 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Connect with whatever services they offer families—sometimes there are places to visit people outside the room or to just chill or get a cubicle to work online. They also have tickets to local museums for families, usually free, if you are not local to the hospital. Agreed about oncology—we had a child in for a blood clot, and those go on the oncology floor. The amenities were awesome. Our pediatric hospital also has an iPad where you can access a bigger deal version of MyChart, and you can order meals for your kid. We were told to eat off our son’s meal tray as he could order more than he would eat. Otherwise, they did have a parent tray option that was cheaper than the cafeteria and had some healthy options. Our stays were never more than a week, but I would say it’s hard to accomplish much. I think the idea of phone calls and such is good—connect any way you can. I took hand sewing but didn’t get much done, but my son had some significant post-surgical needs for us to help with too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 One more thing—if you think you are going to be bouncing in and out of the hospital—I kept bags packed in the front closet for years. We check out books online through Libby, keep movies and shows downloaded on Netflix, two of mine have spotify accounts and backup phone batteries….but those bags always have a bar of chocolate, a deck of cards, or a sketchpad + colored pencils….something hands on to do when we needed to get out of our thoughts. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 I have no advice, but I wanted to send you a hug. Please take care of yourself. I will be praying for your kid and hoping the stay is short and they are doing better soon. I am so sorry this is going on. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 13 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said: One more thing—if you think you are going to be bouncing in and out of the hospital—I kept bags packed in the front closet for years. We check out books online through Libby, keep movies and shows downloaded on Netflix, two of mine have spotify accounts and backup phone batteries….but those bags always have a bar of chocolate, a deck of cards, or a sketchpad + colored pencils….something hands on to do when we needed to get out of our thoughts. I've been hitting the audiobooks hard this stay. Sleep suggestion- the Calm app has "Sleep Stories" that have been a God send for me. They help drown out the hospital noise and help me to fall asleep. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Wishing you strength at this difficult time and a speedy recovery for your child. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mominco Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 (((hugs))) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Sending good wishes for you and your child, @sangtarah, and for your entire family. Regards, Kareni 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 3 hours ago, mommyoffive said: I have no advice, but I wanted to send you a hug. Please take care of yourself. I will be praying for your kid and hoping the stay is short and they are doing better soon. I am so sorry this is going on. Sending a hug from me too and lots of positive thoughts. That must be incredibly difficult. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Hugs to you and your dc ❤️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saraha Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Hugs and prayers for you and your family 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Oh, my kid ended up feeling worse than typical with his hospitalizations, so it didn’t get used much, but I loaded up an IKEA drawer organizer with handy stuff like chargers and little games, ear buds, change for snacks, etc. It kept things handy! I packed it into the bag already loaded and took it home the same way. You might want a binder with clear pocket sleeves to keep paperwork—depending on what’s up, you can get OT/PT exercises, dietary information, copies of imaging or test results, explanations of conditions or treatments, medicine schedules, and discharge papers. It’s a lot to track, and the clear sleeves help keep it visible but contained. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolate-chip chooky Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 One of my children (now an adult) has a chronic illness that required many hospitalisations as a child. She was ventilator-dependent until she was 5yr old and oxygen-dependent until she was 10yr old. Her longest hospital stay was about 16 months in one stretch and that was in ICU as a baby/toddler. I'm sure this sort of super-long hospital stay is a really different experience if it is a baby or a child or a teen, but what helped for us: - creating a space that felt like ours. We decorated the walls and windows and had family photos up etc. - building relationships with the regular nursing staff. This *really* helped. - getting meal tickets from the social worker - getting parking passes from the social worker - having a wider support network that helped with our older child during this time Interestingly, now many years later, I actually have plenty of really good memories from this time, along with some pretty traumatic ones, not surprisingly. @sangtarah I wish you, your child, and the rest of your family all the best. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Lumbar cushions for the chairs, comfy throws. A spare pair of shoes so your feet don't hurt from wearing the same ones all the time. A stack of facecloths to freshen up easily. Good books, for you and to read to the patient if they'd like that. Bone-conducting headphones are great, because they are unobtrusive and don't block surrounding sound. Ask someone to bring washed (and cut, as needed) fruit and vegetables to the room. This is a great assignment when someone says to let them know if you need anything: not hard, not expensive, not time-consuming, but very helpful to you. The same goes for actual food: thanks for asking, would you be able to drop off a po-boy or something and give me a break from hospital food? When I'm the person trying to help, I'm always super-happy to do that, because again it's easy but also helpful. If appropriate, ask people to visit for short periods of time. Like ten to twenty minutes, not an hour. Short visits break up the monotony, and don't dwindle into awkwardness and an inability for the visitor to semi-cheerful. The only people who should make long visits are those who are willing to sit with the patient while you go get coffee and walk outside to make sure the sun is still there. Sometimes I think that hospital psychosis doesn't apply just to the patients . . . 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 I don't have any good advice but I wanted to say I'm so sorry you are going through this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 I’m so sorry for what your child and your family are facing. Hugs and prayers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eos Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Sending warm thoughts and holding your family in the Light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.JPG.aaaee6eacbe29bd8a99eadc7d09a9294.JPG)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.