This was Ricki's first time in an adult unit. All of her other surgeries have been at Primary Children's Hospital. At the children's hospital they treat the patients with a lot of tenderness and honestly really dote on them and make sure they are not only physically but emotionally well. Here on an adult unit at Johns Hopkims it was a very formal environment. Everyone addressed Ricki as "Miss Jensen". They would rarely just chat and visit it was all business. After several days Ricki had a melt down and I discovered it was really bothering her to be in such a formal environment. So we brainstormed and csme up with some ideas. She put up a sign on her door that said "Please call me Ricki" and we decorated her door to help people feel hopefully more relaxed coming into her room. It worked like a charm and before we knew it the nurses and techs were smiling and being more friendly and less businesslike. We did speak with them and they are trained to be businesslike because it is an adult
Another issue we found is that there was just not much to do to give Ricki distractions from her pain. We are grateful we new in advance we were going to be on the adult side so we had our own coloring books, some crafts and books to read. Before the surgery we ask the nurses where some calmomg places were and she suggested the choi fish pond and the Christus statue in the old hospital building. Ricki found those places to be very therapeutic.mshe was very disappointed to discover after the surgery she wasn't allowed to visit those places for quite a few days after surgery and it is definitely something she looked forward to.
Over all it has been a sweet experience and our hearts are full of gratitude for all the love and support that have made this miracle for Ricki possible,
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