miracle hospital

since masey has been at primary childrens medical center, i have been making a list of a few things i love about this hospital:

• they treat any child, regardless of their parents ability to pay, and with payment (or lack thereof) not factoring into treatment
• their motto, the child first and always
• the room service menu. there's no cart full of pre-made trays for the patients. it is an entire menu of food items the child can pick from. you simply call the number, and they ask what can i get for mason? then you order. an aide brings up his tray. you can order as much or as little as you like, as often as you like. when mason had special diet restrictions, they brought him a menu with only approved items, so he wasn't seeing things he couldn't have. many times, they have brought up a single banana or a cheese wedge. also, if we were eating something from the cafeteria he wanted, they would plate it up and bring him some
• slushie machines on every unit
• wednesdays, there is a hospital-wide bingo game. every kid gets a prize (last week it was a mr. potato head, this week a snoopy doll)
• xbox 360s in every room
• toy closets on every unit, and an enormous toy room on the 3rd floor
• an entire staff of kids crew volunteers who will play with your child, do a craft, keep them company if you leave, bring him toys, play with a sibling. 
• therapy dogs
• child life specialists, certified child psychologists who help not only understand procedures, but attend them with him and talk him through it; deal with homesickness, and conduct the best play therapy ever.
• laundry rooms for the parents with laundry soap provided
• sleep rooms for the parents
• visits from personal pets (mason's doggies) for terminal and long-term patients
• primary lessons at the bedside
• a quilt on every bed
• buddies, the dolls the child life people use to help mason understand all his tubes and wires. 
• the nurse who let him have no leeds on since yesterday because he told her he hated them and never wanted them again
• the nurse who fought to be our nurse because she loved masey so much
• the neurosurgeon who let mason have his catheter out and hour after surgery because he asked for it
• patient care techs who also serve as waitresses for the parents
• volunteers who bring a cart full of instruments round and make up silly songs with the kids
• the hospitality cart, brought round every morning full of doughnuts, coffee/cocoa, muffins, bagels, juice and fruit for the families
• music performers in the lobby almost every night-harp, piano, violin, classical guitar, cello, flute, viola-you name it, i've heard it.
• pene can sleep/lay with/cuddle with mason any time he wants
• nurses, aides and doctors who will still gladly work around the many balloons and decorations up from masey's birthday on monday

this is just a short list of the many things i love about this hospital. i have always felt good about pcmc, but having masey here, i am now a true believer in this place. miracles happen here all the time, and kids are healed. it's a sad place inevitably, but it's also a place of miracles; full of people who truly love kids.

december 1st-4th is the festival of trees here in utah. i encourage anyone in the area to come see the trees, or buy a tree if you are so inclined. we will be decorating a tree next year. and you can bet i'll be going to the festival this year, and every year after. every penny raised goes to pay for children whose parents cant afford treatment.

this is thomas, masey's buddy. yes, he has a drain in his head also. yes it is really stitched in just like his. yes, he does have a board on his wrist to immobilize it just like masey. yes, that is a real iv, put in with a real needle by masey. and yes, masey loves him. a lot.

there are some really awesome updates on masey's condition and length of stay, etc. but i've been banned from updating before pene. so, stay updated on http://masestumortales.blogspot.com/ or check back with me tomorrow :)