An Ordinary Mom's Musings

Often people wonder if there are any good people left in the world.

It was the Christmas season of 2008. My husband was out of work. I was working as a Nanny for a family. I was able to bring my children to work. This saved on childcare.

My son at, 2 1/2, had caught a cold. Like every other cold he developed, it immediately caused an Asthma flare up. It was a long night. I sporadically slept with him in my arms as he struggled to breathe. Giving him breathing treatments at least every 4 hours.

Exhausted I dragged myself and my children to work along with the nebulizer. I should have called in sick. But with my husband out of work, I really needed to work. And he’d gotten an odd job for the day.

Around noon I realized my son was struggling to breathe despite the treatments. I left work and rushed him to the E.R. calling my husband on the way.

Once examined, they immediately admitted him. We started him on oxygen, multiple nebulizer treatments, and steroids, as his oxygen saturation levels were low. As it was prime season for RSV, they tested for that.

The nature of RSV is that it is a virus that anyone can get but in children age 0-2 it’s particularly dangerous. His test results came back positive. To prevent the spread of the virus to other children he was moved to an isolation room. He was 2 1/2 years old. It wasn’t supposed to be dangerous anymore for him, but it was.

Oxygen levels had to continually be monitored, so he had a pulse ox on his big toe, along with oxygen being given through his nose, and nebulizer treatments round the clock at a minimum of every 4 hours with a mask. If you have never held up a mask for your child to breathe into for half an hour at a time, you don’t know what hell it is. They don’t want that mask anywhere near their faces, let alone the oxygen in their nose.  Lots of screaming ensues.

Then there are the normal blood pressure checks and heart monitors. Lots of chords were hooked up to this little boy who didn’t understand why he couldn’t get up and play, and couldn’t breathe. All night long and day after day this was where he and I stayed, cuddled together on a hospital bed watching Disney movies and trying to catch some sleep between treatments, blood pressure checks, and other interruptions.

Two nights before Christmas the hospital and other caring people put on a holiday party for the parents who were stuck in the hospital with our children. Nurses and other staff members stayed with our children to give us a chance to leave our child’s room. We were served Outback Steakhouse for dinner instead of hospital food (which after being there for a week was like manna from heaven). Then, we were led into a room where we could go Christmas shopping for our kids, 2 gifts per child. Not just the child who was in the hospital, but also for any other children you might have as well. All free of charge. Generous people had donated these gifts, knowing that our families likely were not going to be able to get out of the hospital to go Christmas shopping and money might be tight due to medical bills.

The next day, Christmas Eve, our son was finally released from the hospital, although still sick, his oxygen levels were staying high enough that they felt they could let him go home. We were so happy just to be home for Christmas in our own beds, with no more hospital food. This would have been Christmas enough for us.

Christmas gifts didn’t end there. Kind friends, knowing that we had been in the hospital and had not had time to buy or make a Christmas dinner, dropped it by that night for the next day. Yet more friends knowing my husband was out of work and money was tight, brought us Christmas gifts. Yet another kind stranger knowing that we needed new tires for our car,  left an anonymous donation to cover the cost.

Tears of gratitude filled our souls as we prepared for Christmas that night. The next morning we were overwhelmed as we opened the gifts that were given with such generosity to us.

Some people think there are no good people left in this world.

I write this, wanting my children to know-