Thursday, February 18, 2010

Maybe, just maybe

Today started out rather early for me, I was up, showered, hair fixed and out the door by 7:10 this morning. Why so early, you ask? Well one of my dad's employees has a son with cancer and he had to go to OKC for some tests today, his mom doesn't drive so my dad asked if I would be able to drive them down there. With my current employment status, I couldn't really say no and I am pretty familiar with the OU Children's Hospital where his appointments were. It is the same hospital my niece Kathryn had surgery and spent about a week at 4 years ago or so. I was impressed with the hospital back when Kathryn was there, today was no different.

As I spent some time on the oncology and blood disorders floor today, I got to see some really cute kids and hear the stories of why they were there. One girl was 4 and she was diagnosed with lukemia 2 months ago. Another girl was 2 years old, yes I said 2 YEARS OLD and weighed 12 lbs. and she has some rare disorder that only 24 other people have been diagnosed with. Her mom found out when she was pregnant with her that she was going to have problems and the doctor suggested she think about terminating her pregnancy, she said that was never an option for her, God gave her that special little girl for a reason. As I listened to her story I couldn't help but to tear up. They sent the girl home when she was 6 days old, with hospice and told her parents to just take her home and love her. The doctors didn't expect her to live long but she is now 2 and her mom is still loving her! Another little boy who was 14 months old had another disorder, that I don't remember all the characteristics of but its something he will get to live with forever and he was just adorable with big brown eyes and gelled hair.

So with all these stories, and my love for kids, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe I need to be working in a childrens hospital or somehow with children that have possibly life threatening ailments. To see these little kids who are so sick, but yet so happy and strong just makes any little issue in my normal day seem so trivial. Yes at times it would definitely be heart breaking, but I believe you can learn so much from these kids and their families. I haven't yet figured out what I can do that won't require me to go back to school and be able to work with these kids so if you have any ideas I'm definitely open to suggestions, thoughts, and reflections on this post.

4 comments:

Julie Kay said...

Surely children's hospitals have positions like activities director or volunteers director. Maybe you could look into something along those lines and it wouldn't require you to go back to school. I think this is wonderful. It really sounds like you've discovered something you could be truly passionate about. I'll keep thinking on this to brainstorm ways to get involved. And, I'll be praying God finds you a way in.

The Rigsby's said...

I agree with Julie. This sounds like a good path for you! You love children, so follow your heart. God will lead in the right direction, sometimes it is in his timing.

little dalene said...

http://nursing.ouhsc.edu/Academic_Programs/Undergraduate/ABSN/absn_trad.html

You can do this in Tulsa. I think you should.

Anonymous said...

Dear Nikki

I am so glad that you are blogging.

Wouldn't working with children that are sick be both difficult and rewarding. You would be good at it!

Your Grandma that isn't really.

From S. D.