Amazing Stories from UIHC

I know that we will be here for a number more days, but I wanted to share some absolutely amazing stories.

#1 - Giggle Flowers
When I took Jake into the OR, he was already groggy from the oral medicine. As they put the mask to his face, the anesthesiologist was explaining that it was "giggle gas" in the mask. I tried to help him understand by relating that to an episode of Dragon Tales that he watches often at daycare where the characters are searching for giggle flowers for their mother's birthday. It wasn't long before he was asleep.

Later, as we were called back to his recovery area, his head and face were securely bandaged and over his head dressing was a light, knit cap. The recovery nurse explained that they always like draw on the caps for children. On Jake's cap, someone hand-drew the main character from Dragon Tales and included a bundle of giggle flowers.

People's care and attention to the personal touch is amazing.

#2 - Jesus Medallion
There were three "families" in the waiting room yesterday that were in for the long haul, us included. We started with small talk and eventually got to know each other's stories. Oddly enough, all three families were relatively local (Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport) so we even talked about some local events. There was a very large family occupying the room next door. They had two small children they were trying to keep quiet, but by the end of the day when we were nearly the only ones left, they were pretty comfortable letting them run. As we talked, I learned that they were there for a family member's kidney transplant with the donor being his cousin from California. I shared some of my experience with my dad's transplant. They asked who we were waiting for, so I gave an explanation of Jake's procedure.

The next thing I know, the mother of the kidney recipient (her 27 year old son) came over to me and placed a small Jesus medallion in my hand. She explained that she had that medallion blessed and carried it with her as her then 6 year old son battled cancer. She told of some of his other health struggles and how he made it to UIHC that day. She wanted me to have the medallion to empower Jacob and my family to overcome this obstacle. It was such a touching moment that I never could have anticipated.

I never caught their names but they will forever be in my heart. Best wishes to Matt on his recovery!!

#3 - Where are you from?
As we entered the recovery room, we were elated to see our little man safe and snuggly in bed. We were graced with a sweet recovery nurse who quickly updated us on how he was doing. Soon she asked where we were from. This is not an uncommon question. Then she sheepishly asked if we recognized the name of someone that shared our last name (not a common last name). As it turns out, our nurse went to the same college as Grandpa John and he used to give her and another nurse rides back to Dubuque on weekends for Saturday training or to see family. This was nearly 40 years ago, but she still remembers and shared some of her favorite "adventures". It was an amazing "small world" story.