The Greatest Thing: Love to the Rescue

When I was about 9 years old I cruised the hallways of the Portland Shriners Hospital for Children. Our Bethel was touring the facility and learning why the hospital is one of their philanthropies.

I remember standing in a room and watching as a doc demonstrated how a prosthetic is made. This particular day he was fixing an artificial leg and adjusting the fit for a boy who must have been about my age.

I remember thinking it was weird that someone actually had a job making fake body parts.

I also remember standing in a room with wall-to-wall shelves, filled ceiling to floor with homemade quilts, afghans and pillowcases. We learned that each child that is admitted to the hospital is given their very own quilt and pillowcase to keep, forever and ever.

I remember thinking that was pretty cool and even being a tiny bit jealous that they'd get such a beautiful blanket.

Finally I remember going down a set of stairs, into the basement, to a room that was filled with a massive, intimidating-looking medical contraption that I later learned was an iron-lung. It was no longer being used and was instead kept as a museum piece of sorts.

I remember thinking that any person that needed such an dreadful looking thing was most certainly steps away from death for there was no way anyone even remotely healthy would have need for something so ghastly.

Even at 9 years old, the tour touched me.

But it was nothing compared to cruising the halls 20+ years later, as a mom, with your children when your daughter is being seen.

Monday Ashley had her appointment at Shriners Hospital, and thanks to Dad being a Shriner she was neither apprehensive or scared.
I took care of that for her.
The good news from the appointment is that there's no biological reason (i.e. arthritis, malformations, muscular issues) why Ash experiences joint pain and stiffness. She's slightly knock-kneed and combine that with extra loosey-goosey joints and apparently it's just enough to give her some pains. The doc told us that kiddos that are knock-kneed will generally 'straighten out' between the ages of 4 and 6, so she's just about there. I did learn that while her hips have more than the normal range of motion, her arms are actually more Gumby-like than her hips/knees, but they don't seem to bother her. I walked away from the appointment feeling a mix of emotions: relief because Ash is a healthy 5 year old but also a feeling of 'eh' while we wait to see if she has any more problems with pain.

The old 'wait and see' approach - one of my least favorites.

I'm so thankful for Shriners Hospital. Even before I was ever there as the parent of a patient, I would sing their praises.

I always knew they provided care for children, regardless if parents could afford to pay for it.

I always knew they gave every child a brand-new toy at their first appointment to help ease any fears/nerves.

I always knew they made kiddos feel welcomed and not at all "hospitalized".

I guess I just never knew how incredible of a feeling that would be until I had the chance to whiteness it as a parent.

I didn't know I needed to bring shorts to Ashley's appointment so when her nurse asked if I had some for her to change into I sheepishly shook my head 'no'. Our nurse was understanding and assured me it was no big deal and promised me she'd bring some in for us. I figured she'd walk back with paper-disposable ones.

How wrong I was.

When she came back she handed Ash a pair of homemade, drawstring shorts in a lovely blue-colored ocean theme.

Turns out Daughters of the Nile (another Masonic organization) sews thousands of pairs of shorts for kiddos at Shriners Hospitals so they can feel normal in real shorts.

And when you make them feel normal, you ease their minds. And the minds of parents, too.

I walked away from the appointment feeling such relief for Ashley's health, and that combined with the feeling of love I got from all of the staff at the hospital, I actually cried during the drive home. We are so lucky to have organizations like Shriner's who's motto is sending "Love to the Rescue." It makes me excited to find ways to give back to them and get the girls involved in it as well. We will definitely be donating toys to their annual toy-drive. There's no price that can be put on the happiness that pink-haired Barbie brought to Ashley or the simple way it took her mind off of the unknown. And the next time I'm at the fabric store you can bet I'll pick up some fabric to donate to Daughters of the Nile for shorts (I didn't know the shorts were ours to take or else I would have brought them home). I want to make sure I encourage my children to give where they can, and now that Ashley has a personal connection with Shriners Hospital, I hope that will help plant a seed in her.

I know this post is all over the place. To be honest I struggled coming up with ways to put my feelings into words. Bottom line is Shriners are so much more than old guys in silly, red fez's, riding tiny little cars around in parades. They truly *believe* in doing all they can for their hospital.

I feel like we are members of a special club now that we've been patients.

I feel relieved knowing Ash was seen by the top medical staff out there.

I feel honored that they worked so hard to make us feel at ease.

And I certainly feel blessed that they sent their love to our rescue.

Getting ready to head in for her big appointment