We've been
visiting the Hemotology/Oncology Clinic (also known as the Hem-Onc clinic) for
about 9 months now. My first visit was a quick walk-through tour offered
by a nurse while Charlotte was working on crafts in her hospital room a couple
days after her diagnosis. "This" she said as we walked through
the small clinic, "is where you will come about once a week to receive
treatment. Here's the check-in area, and here is where the patients
receive chemo." At that time, all I could see was a bald
ten-year old with an IV hooked up to his IV, sleeping on a reclining chair with
his parent next to him. A mother trailed
after her toddling 2 year old with an IV stand, trying to keep her from
tripping on the cords. A tiny infant in
a car seat sat wailing with an IV stand next to her car seat. I remember taking my fingernail and digging
it into the underside of my arm in an attempt to not start bawling. These poor babies! My poor baby!
We have since
found that Hem-Onc is a fun place to be. When you walk in, there is a small waiting
area that has a table of pre-packaged crafts.
Charlotte usually bee-lines to the craft table to choose a project the
minute we walk in the door. Last week
was all the pieces to put together a paper bag cow puppet. The Ziploc bag included all the materials, a
glue stick, and detailed instructions. I
imagine that church groups or families get together and put these together and
donate them to the hospital. There is
also a wooden “hat tree” in the waiting area.
It is covered with home-made and other donated hats. There is a sign that tells patrons they are
welcome to take the hats, but please do not try them on and put them back on
the tree. Always, we are
germ-conscience. Charlotte loves to go
pick out a hat. She has been instructed
not to take more than one. There are
some talented people out there. I look at
the hat tree and think, I really should learn how to make a hat. I could do that during sacrament meeting. It would be a good way to stay awake and
listen at the same time!
By the time
Charlotte has chosen her craft packet, we are called over by the lady who
weighs and measures Charly. She puts her
medical bracelet on her and takes her blood pressure as well. We are then instructed to go to a private
patient room. That’s where we wait to
visit with the doctors. The nurse comes in
to “access” Charly. That means they
insert the IV needle into her port. If
she has a LP (lumbar puncture) that day, they have her lie down and the put a
numbing cream, Emla, on her spine and cover it with a Tegaderm bandage. The cream takes about a ½ hour before it’s
effective, we always put some on her port and cover it with Press and Seal
(thank you Glad for such an awesome product!) before we drive to the hospital. Even though Charly will be sedated for her
lumbar puncture, the staff do everything to make sure she won’t suffer
needlessly.
After the nurse,
the child life specialist usually pops in to say hello. She asks Charly if there is anything she’d
like for today, she will tell Charlotte of any crafts they are working on in
the back area of the clinic, where you receive transfusions. Sometimes, there has been need to offer
education to Charlotte at her level of understanding. The child life specialist has brought in
books with magnified pictures of blood cells, a kit with the medical tools
Charly will see in the office. They have
been essential to help explain many difficult concepts.
The doctors
usually come next, sometimes together and sometimes separately. Every once in a while, there is a medical
student who comes in to take a health history or observe the doctors. They look so young.
The doctors
usually spend about 10-15 minutes in the room, unless we have questions. They examine Charlotte, ask how she is doing,
run through the next week/ month’s treatment plan. For the most part, we see the same doctors,
but sometimes they aren’t on the schedule, and we see different doctors. I personally feel we are assigned to the best
resident and attending. They both have a
great sense of humor, teasing and laughing often.
After the doctors
are done with us, we go to the infusion area for chemo. We choose a couple reclining chairs to occupy
and settle in. There is a freezer full
of Otter pops, a fridge full of sodas, milks, water, gaterade, and juice
boxes. Another fridge has yogurt,
individually wrapped cheese slices, and other goodies. She can request crackers, chips and other
snacks. Charly can get a personal TV wheeled
to in front of her chair, where she can choose to watch a movie or play a video
game. They have large DVD binders filled
with movies and games. Charlotte has
only requested the TV once when she has been with me. For Charly, it’s all about the craft
table. There reside markers, glue,
glitter, and materials for the craft of the day. For Halloween she made a giant spider from a Styrofoam
bowl decorated with tissue paper and pipecleaners. For Christmas, she painted a wooden donkey. Often, there is a college age volunteer
helping to assist patients as they work.
Yesterday was very disappointing because we were so quick with our
treatment, there was no time for another craft.
“Can we stay a little longer to see what they have to do today?” Charly asked.
You would think
with the amount of patients the staff sees, one little girl would be hard to
remember. But from the front desk
receptionist to the nurses and the doctors, they all know how much Charlotte
loves those crafts. They all smile and
ask her what she’s going to work on today.
I see them also remember that this toddler enjoys the Dora kitchen and
that teenager would prefer a TV. There
are some amazing people working there.
When I visit the
clinic with Charlotte, I’ve never had to repeat the trick of digging my
fingernail into the underside of my arm in order to prevent myself from
crying. It’s been due to a combination
of the amazing people that work there and the people we don’t see who donate
their time and resources to offer movies and crafts and games that make the
Hem/Onc clinic a fun place for cancer patients.
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