So, it was the Janeway Telethon the other day. The Janeway is the Childrens Hospital in St. John's, Newfoundland. They raised more that 3 million dollars for the hospital. Seeing the telethon all over facebook reminded me of the year and a half my mother and I spent it the Janeway. I always say my mother and I because she was by my side the whole time and I'm sure felt everything I was feeling.
That time in my life was by far the worst time in my life. When I was younger I would always think about how hard it was for me but I never really realized how hard it was on my whole family. My dad flew out from Fort McMurray and spent months with me, my sister came out and stayed in the hospital bed next to me for a few weeks. My aunts and uncles drove 9 hours across the island to bring me teddy bears and toys. My friends called me and sent me get well cards I think every room in my room at the hospital was covered in cards and I had so many teddy bears we had to carry them out in garbage bags when I was finally released. I still have my hospital bracelet from that time and I still remember my Janeway number it was 201-266 and I was on unit 2B.
The telethon also made me think about the bad times. The first time I was admitted it was at night time. A sweet nurse came in and asked if I ever had morphine before. After 5 tries they got an IV in and they gave me morphine for the pain. I put my hand out and told my mom to hold my hand because I felt like I was floating up off the bed. The next day I couldn't pee, a side effect from the morphine so three nurses held me down while a lady named Jean inserted a catheter. To this day that was the worse procedure I ever had. Anyways, I was then admitted to the constant care room. There was an extra bed for mom and a little nurses desk right in my room. Someone was there 24/7 and I remember being in and out of consciousness. The next few weeks I was pumped with plasma, antibiotics, pain meds. I got x rays, CT Scans, an MRI and worst of all a barium enema. Barium is this thick white substance that taste like grated up chalk. If it wasn't being pumped into me then I was forced to drink it. One time mom felt so bad for me trying to choke it down she drank some of it for me just to get rid of it.
Somehow after all of that I survived. I lived to tell the tale of the wonderful nurses and doctors who cared for me and supported me and my family during that very difficult time. I am so grateful that Newfoundland has such a great hospital like the Janeway.
You can learn more or donate here http://janewayfoundation.nf.ca/ways-to-give/
