For the past six years, I have had the opportunity to see the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus from my office window.  It’s a pretty amazing view that has drastically improved over the last 300 weeks.  One of the biggest changes in the skyline is the addition of the brand new Oishei Children’s Hospital.  On the cold day in November 2017 when the hospital officially accepted its first patient, I spent the day gazing out my window in complete awe of what was about to happen in those four walls.  I knew it was a building that had the potential to change lives.

November 2017 – The actual photo from my office on the day the brand new Children’s Hospital opened in Buffalo.

Today my view was drastically shifted because I was on the other side…

Today Makenzie had her tonsils and adenoids out.  It’s an otherwise simple procedure except for that fact that she has a bleeding disorder, which can trigger a big problem during surgeries when not properly treated.  So here we are on the inside of the hospital walls that I have been staring at for months.  As we drove downtown today, I was no longer looking at the skyline from the perspective of an excited resident, but I was looking at the skyline as a nervous mom wondering what was about to happen from inside the walls of the hospital.

It turns out there is beauty from the inside the hospital too!  From inside the four walls of the Children’s Hospital, you can see what it means to have a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to children.  The rooms are gorgeous, the common space is cheery, and the technology is full of info important to keep our kids safe.  From inside the four walls of the Children’s Hospital, you can feel what it means to be in a place where the employees truly care about making a tough day as easy as possible.  The nurses are incredibly caring, the toys are plentiful, and everything in the building is kid friendly (including the write-on sheets – so cool!).

Waiting for surgery. Check out the write-on sheets and the Legos given to her by the nurses.

Today had its share of scary moments (does any Mom not cry when your kid is rolled away into surgery?), its share of fun moments, and its share of just slow down and relax moments.  Despite being in pain, Makenzie and I had a good time tonight coloring, painting crafts, hanging glow sticks in her room and cuddling up to read Matilda.

From the other side, I was reminded that life can be stressful, and emotional and scary at times, but also necessary (honestly 10 rounds of strep is just not cool!).  I was reminded that sometimes it’s okay to slow down and focus on nothing but family.  And I was reminded that we sometimes need to be more compassionate when we try to assume what’s going on behind the glass walls… it turns out that sometimes we just can’t truly relate until we are on the other side.

Kenz checking out the view from her 11th floor room just before going to bed. If you look carefully, you can actually see my office window. Pretty cool!

Tonight I’m snuggled up on the cozy-ish pull-out sofa in Makenzie’s room as we sleep in increments of a few hours at a time between medicine doses.  I’m grateful that the worst is behind us, and I’m grateful for all that I learned when I saw something from the other side and gained a new view in life.

It’s not a view I want to repeat often, but even the scary places in life can bring some joy. 🙂

Sweet Dreams,

Erin

xoxo

PS   Kindly excuse any spelling or typing errors.   It’s been a long few days.

PPS  The real irony of this is that the ONLY reason Kenzie’s ENT even tested her for a bleeding disorder is because I had a major bleeding problem 30-ish years ago when I had my tonsils out.  I lost so much blood I needed a transfusion, which seemed to indicate that I had a bleeding disorder that could cause problems for Kenz.  Sure enough Kenz has the disorder, but it turns out that I do not.  After testing negative twice for it, the doctors were incredibly surprised to find out that it actually came from Denny.  Moral of the story… ALWAYS share your family history with your physician.  It might just help you discover something incredibly important.