hospital visit: my niece has MRSA

last friday, my niece tatum had the beginning signs of MRSA. she was in the hospital for 5 days, before being discharged. but her stay at home didn't last long, because she was back in the hospital less than 48 hours later.

before i walked into the room, i had visions of tatum laying in her hospital bed, all sad and pitiful looking with the blankets pulled up to her chin. but, when i walked through the door, i immediately heard squeals of excitement, "Aunt Marcia!!!!", followed by tatum jumping up on the bed in hug-ready position. it turns out that my visit was on the best day possible, because her spirits were high, since her pain and sickness was minimal.

this was during a routine nurse checkup


and here is her IV.  since she's a child, they have to create a whole arm brace so that the IV doesn't do any damage to her.


MRSA is a strain of staff infection that is resistant to most antibiotics.  with staff infections it is very important to wash your hands, and keep things as sanitary as possible.  unfortunately, tatum wasn't able wash her hands due to the IV arm brace, so she had to use foaming hand sanitizer.  they had a dispenser in the room, and one directly outside the room.


imagine for a minute that you're 4 years old, stuck in a hospital room for OVER a week!  you DEFINITELY need some sources of entertainment.  the hospital, as well as family and friends gave her loads of toys and presents to help the time go by a little faster


another source of entertainment: makeovers!


tatum's turn for a makeover!!


beautious!


in the second room she stayed in, there was an in-room computer, complete with internet connectivity and everything!  she was playing a little caillou here!


next to the bed there is the usual doctors supplies, so kailey (tatum's sister and my oldest niece), was giving tatum her own checkup.


it was great to see that tatum hasn't lost her SILLY!!!


aunt marcia with her 2 nieces!!!


kailey and tatum were taking turns using my camera!  i think i've got 2 more candidates for future photographer assistants!!!


my favorite photo of tatum and me!!  thank you kailey!!!!!!


self-taken photo of the 3 of us!


tatum!


the latest news is that the doctors are hoping to discharge her tomorrow (09-20), 10 days after she was first admitted!  throughout all of this she has been an AMAZING trooper!!  she's gotten her routines down pat, knows exactly what to do when the nurses come, and actually seems to LIKE the hospital!  i wouldn't be surprised if this experience sparks an interest in her to pursue the medical field when she gets older.

yep, that's my official tatum-prediction!!

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