Sometimes I forget how rare it is to have really wonderful medical care in a really small community. I was reminded when my nine-year-old son and I recently visited the lab at the Cook County hospital.
Our little guy has had far too many “pokes” in his nine years… mostly from I.V. blood draws…and he’s pretty well traveled for his age. We’ve been to St. Luke’s, St. Mary’s, Minneapolis Children’s Hospital, and a number of other specialty clinics in the Twin Cities. These are wonderful facilities, but if I had to choose a place for my son to have his lab tests performed quickly, and with the least amount of trauma to him (or his mama), I’d choose our hometown lab every time.
Our local lab has received praise and recognition for their service and professionalism and for their personal, patient-oriented care. Let me tell you how that translates into the life of just one family….
Our kiddo is, for the most part, nonverbal. He uses a lot of sign language to communicate. He’s also autistic and has some cognitive delays, so medical procedures can be very frightening, especially tests such as blood draws, which often hurt as well.
Every time I call our lab, they put together a small team of kind, calm, smiling, helpful staff who drop everything they’re doing to complete our son’s blood draw. They ask “mom” what works best for our son… every time… even though he’s been there dozens of times. They don’t assume, they ask. Then they actually listen and follow through.
I’ve watched them hold his hands, massage his feet, wrap him in warm blankets, sing to him, count out loud with him… and this last time, one wonderful lady even learned sign language so she could tell him “hello,” ask him his name, and say thank-you and good-bye.
I can’t tell you what it means to know that there are people who care enough about our children to go the “extra distance” to calm their fears and make a tough experience a little more tolerable.
So… this is long overdue, but thank you to all the staff in the lab at Cook County hospital. As far as our family is concerned, you are all real-life superheroes.
Michele M. Miller
Hovland
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