The child in room 1153

On Monday , February 19, 2007, after visiting the doctor I knew our next stop would be the hospital. I feel very familiar with this hospital. I myself have stayed there 3 times and had 4 surgeries (3 c-sections and gall bladder). As far as pediatrics goes, Claire was in this hospital twice so I felt like I knew the ropes. I went from the doctors office to the front of the hospital to register Jack.

A lady got us all checked in and then asked me to wait in the front for someone to take us to our room. After a short wait, the lady came back and asked us to come with her. We got to the peds floor and we went to a wing that I wasn't familiar with. When we got to our room I thought to myself that this all seemed very strange. This room was nothing like the ones that Clarie had been in.

As we were getting checked in and they were assessing Jack, they put on masks and gowns and said that any of the staff that got near Jack would have to wear 'this get-up'. Um, okie dokie. I was a bit overwhelmed to begin with. This all seemed strange to me. I understood that they didn't know what was wrong with him, but was it so bad that they were afraid they would give it to another child? They later explained that anyone with RSV or any kind of flu got the same treatment.

One of the nurses said "Do you know why you are in the ICU?" I said "I didn't know this was the ICU. I knew this all seemed different than what my daughter had gone through, but I didn't realize this was the ICU." She explained to me that he was there because of the lack of beds in the hospital. When Doctor Henry came that night he said "He doesn't 'need' ICU care, but I'm really glad he's here." The nurse said to me "There are very sick kids in this unit." I guess I figured that much out on my own. People came and went, in and out, over and over. Due to the fact that I'm a nursing Mom they brought me my meals. They also let me have all the juice, pop, and water that I wanted to help me maintain my milk supply.

After getting settled in, I began to look around at my surroundings. The doors on the rooms in the unit were glass sliding doors with curtains. I noticed that the room directly across from Jack's, room 1153, was filled with balloons, flowers, and stuffed animals. On one of my trips back to the fridge I noticed that the child in that room was on a ventilator. I couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with that child. Was it a girl or a boy? How old was the child? My guess was between 6 and 10. I wondered how long the child had been there. They had pillows under his/her motionless legs. People came and went from the room. I once saw a young girl reading to the child. She left the room crying.

Jack was on a monitor that measured 3 different things. It measured his heartbeat, his oxygen level and his respiration's. If his monitor went off and a nurse was in a different room, a pop up window would come up with the following information: name, room number, stats. This way if they were in a different room and he stopped breathing they would know to come help. This was the same throughout the unit. One of the alarms that when off often was room 1160 - Cheyenne. You would have thought Jack and Cheyenne were in some sort of contest to see who could have more alarms. One of Jack's sensors was on his big toe, so if he started moving around then the alarm would sound. It would also sound if his oxygen level went too low.

I thought 'Can't we just have one false alarm from room 1153 so at least I know if it's a boy or a girl?' Finally it happened. The alarm went off and the pop up window showed that Katie B was the child in room 1153. Finally. Some how it felt better to pray for the little girl in room 1153 instead of the unknown child.

Late Wednesday evening I noticed that they put a sign on the little girls door. It said "Minimal Stimulation Please". I wondered what happened that made them put that up. I felt so horrible for this little girl and her family. When people would leave her room they would normally be in tears.

Thursday morning I noticed that the balloon's had been grouped and the flowers were moved out of the little girl's room. I once again started to wonder what was going on. There were toilets in our rooms, but not actual bathrooms. They had a curtain that you could pull around for privacy, but the actual bathrooms were down the hall at the end of the unit. Early Thursday afternoon I left Jack's room to go to the bathroom. As I opened the brown metal doors to go out of the unit, I noticed that people were gathered in the hall, one of them a clergyman. I felt stupid, sad, and overwhelmed. I felt as though I'd just walked into a place where I had no business being, however, that was untrue. I had no other way to get to the bathroom and had just as much business being there as they did. Nonetheless, I felt as though I was intruding. I recognized the people's faces as being the loved ones coming in and out of room 1153.

By the time I returned many of the people were already in the little girls room. The curtains were drawn and nurses were quietly coming and going. Our nurse said that she was helping with the room across the hall and to just push the nurses button if we needed anything. I figured that the little girl was dying. People came and went in large groups, all of them sobbing as they left. I felt so bad.

At 11:30pm our nurse came into our room. She said they had to move us to the regular peds floor. They had an admit and needed the room. That was the last information I had on Katie B. When Jack was discharged on Friday, I couldn't help but wonder if Katie B died or if she made it through the night. I decided I'd check the Argus Leader obituaries for a few days to see if I could find some of the answers I'd been looking for. I looked for a few days and then got caught up with my every day normal life.

Today when I came to work, one of the officers asked me if I'd seen the news about the 8 year old girl that had died from the flu. I'd even heard on the news one day that South Dakota had had it's first death from the flu and never even thought twice about it. However, when the officer asked me about it I jumped to the edge of my chair and said "Was her name Katie?" He couldn't remember. He has a daughter who is also 8 which makes things like this hit home. As quickly as I could, I turned to our work computer and got on the Argus Leader website. Sure enough there was the obituary for Katie B. It's here if you would like to read it. This is a story about it on Keloland. There was a lady at Katie's bedside that looks so much like she does. I can only assume it was her mother. It looks as though Katie lived until early in the morning on Tuesday.

Now I have the answers to the questions I had. I'll continue to pray for the child in room 1153, Katie B., Katie Boterman and her family. I'm sure you will now do the same.