Primary Childrens Medical Center

Primary Children's Medical center was our home for almost 5 weeks.
At the time it seemed to last forever. Every single minute being spent indoors.
Next to a hospital bed. Alarms. Beeps. Nurses. Noises from other rooms. but those 5 weeks would not have been spent with my Makenzie if it wasn't for this amazing place. I get emotional every time I think about this hospital. I am overwhelmed with the amount of love and support that is packed into that building. I am in ah at the amount of lives they save. They are performing miracles in there and I couldn't imagine a better place to be if you need to be in a hospital.
Over the course of that almost 5 week period we had at least 50 shift changes.
7:00 both am and pm. Being a mom to an extremely sick child who is in quite a bit of pain you are constantly worried who you will get. Who your nurse will be today. Who your RT will be. Who will be the on call. Who will be the attending. and I can honestly say other than 2 nurses every single nurse, RT and doctor was my saving grace. We were lucky enough to have a few nurses and RT fall in love with our Makenzie and would request her when possible. Those special people will forever be hero's in my eyes.
They sat with me, they cried with me, they did everything possible to keep Makenzie happy, they listened to me, they would explain things to me over and over, they let me be a mom to Makenzie at every possible moment, they bent the rules to give her a bath, they never rushed our talks, they always included me in every morning and night time round, they would stay after the rounds to explain everything in a less doctor lingo kind of way, they would come in to talk to me in the middle of the night when I needed them to, they let me sleep, they didn't ask me to leave during said shift changes, they would make my baby smile, they would help me laugh, they would make sure I had left the room at least once during the day to at least go get something to eat and if I didn't they would make sure and tell Ryan as soon as he go there that he needed to take me to get some food, they respected me, they cared about our family, they cared about Makenzies future, they cared about her death, they hugged me, they helped us make some extremely difficult decisions, they told us their medical advice and their personal advice, they were real, they loved.
These are not people just going to work everyday for a paycheck. They are going there to make a difference. Of course you will always run into someone- anywhere that is not quite your cup of tea but I cant explain how lucky we felt to have the team that we had.
This hospital is huge. My life was lived on the second floor in the PICU.
I rarely ventured anywhere else. I heard of lots of fun programs. I was asked to participate in games on behalf of Makenzie and she was always included in prizes. We walked away with countless blankets, toys and games. and Makenzie loved it. She loved seeing something new in her room. She loved seeing a new face and would do everything she could to smile her biggest smile around all those tubes at that new person.

I have a very hard time going to that hospital. I honestly go into panic mode whenever I think baby T might have to go there someday. I cringe whenever I picture those front doors, those halls, that cafeteria, that food, that gift shop, that waiting room, the double doors and the path I walked day and night to be with Makenzie. I cant imagine living that life again. and to be honest- our stay was not long at all compared to many.
Weeks... Months... Years... There are far to many children who spend the majority of their life there. I ache for them. For their parents. Living everyday praying for that miracle. Living for the next good day. Living for moments of pain free.
This place is so important.

Every year for 28 years now, KSL Television has partnered with Primary Children's Hospital to help raise funds for children in need of medical care.
As amazing as this place is... Its not cheap and a lot of people cant pay. That doesn't stop PCMC from saving that child. Thank God Ryan and I had insurance. For months and months after Makenzie passed away we were getting bill after bill. Other than a few every bill was just a statement of what our insurance already paid for. For almost 5 weeks in the PICU Makenzies hospital bills totaled over $400,000.
and like I said, our stay was not nearly as long and others. and some don't have insurance. How in the world could anyone afford that? That is why helping in anyway possible is so crucial.
I donate anytime I'm at the grocery store and they ask if I can give a few dollars to help. I contribute to the annual telethon and with all of YOUR help we donate those amazing leggings, blankets, toys and books for going on 3 years now. What some don't realize is that donating just a dollar will make a difference. Everything helps. You are helping give other families a chance for a miracle. You are helping this amazing medical staff do what they do best.

Did You Know?
•Primary Children's cares for children of the Intermountain region regardless of their ability to pay. Last year, Primary Children's Medical Center expended $14.3 million to cover 14,792 hospital visits by needy children. Physicians donate their expertise for charity patients.
•The most popular flavor of anesthetic request at Primary Children's is bubble gum.
•Of the nation's freestanding children's hospitals, Primary Children's has the seventh highest level of acuity (most critically ill) in the nation and yet has the lowest charge per case.
•The favorite day for children to be in the hospital is Wednesday, because on Wednesday children play Hospital Bingo, and every child wins a prize.
•Primary Children's serve the largest geographical area for a children's hospital in the continental United States - serving children from Denver to the West Coast. The service area spans about 400,000 square miles.
•40,362 children were seen in the Emergency Department in 2011. This puts an average of 111 children in the ED each day.
•The Newborn Intensive Care Unit treats nearly 600 newborns a year, and has an amazing survival rate of 95 percent.
•Children at Primary Children's can order room service any hour, day or night. The most popular foods are chicken nuggets and fruit smoothies.
•Primary Children's has 281 beds - including Pediatric Intensive Care, Newborn Intensive Care, Infant, Medical, Surgical, Neuroscience Trauma, and Immunocompromised units.

I had no idea PCMC served so many children in such a large area.
That means many of you may have unfortunately already been introduced to PCMC or you might be at some point in life. I wish this hospital or any hospital for that matter wasn't used. I wish we could all be healthy and accident free. I wish there was no such pain in this world. but that just isn't realistic. and too many of us have to experience some of the scariest and hardest days of our lives in places like this.
If you can help. Please do.
Whether you can help by contributing to my leggings project or you can contribute by sparing a couple dollars at the checkout when they ask you to donate to PCMC or through this telethon.
Please help. Donate.
and say a prayer for every single child that is currently calling Primary Children's their home right now.

To learn about the leggings project visit the link at the top of my blog. Purchase a cookbook which goes toward the leggings project. or to donate to the telethon please go HERE.
If you want to shed a few tears and have your heart touched go ahead and watch THIS video. Look at those families. Look at what an amazing place Primary's is.
They will forever be my hero's.
They gave me 5 more weeks with my baby.