Shriner’s

Carter had an appointment at Shriner’s in Salt Lake, with his orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Marcella Woiczik. 

He likes Shriners, well, sort of, he doesn’t like medical staff with all he’s been through. He loves the fish tank there. And I love that he was walking into Shriner’s today, when last visit he wasn’t even close to walking.

And the chipmunks.

Carter got an x-ray today and I was so proud of him because he didn’t cry this time.

The doctor wants Carter to come back tomorrow for surgery. She is going to remove all the hardware from the left hip. She’s thinking the hip is in, but not as deep as she’d like, so she’ll put dye in the left hip tomorrow to get a better idea of how it really is. She also ordered him new braces for his feet, which should be here in a couple weeks. It will help give him stability as he walks. 

On the way out Carter stopped to eat some snow.

Then we went to Chili’s for lunch and met up with Laura Gaynard. Laura was my child life specialist when I was a 3 and 4 year old girl and having surgeries at Children’s Phoenix Hospital. I haven’t seen her since then!!! A child life specialist helps children deal with the trauma from being in hospitals and having surgeries. She had such an impact on me and my family, that my sister Laura is actually named after her! After Phoenix, she moved to Utah and has been there ever since. I’ve been looking for her for years, when I finally found her on facebook! We both live in Utah. She’s in Salt Lake, so we planned to meet up when I came for Carter’s doctor appointment. What a sweet reunion it was. She talked to me about the studies she did that I was in and I am actually in 2 different books she wrote. She told me how once I knew she was in the hospital pod I would call her name over and over again and then be hiding under my covers when she came in. She said she would ask the nurses where I was and check all over the room for me as I laughed and laughed under the covers. It was a little emotional for me to think of myself as a child that young, having to endure so much (I know there are others that have gone through way more than me) and being lonely when my mom had to go home from the hospital, while I stayed there. And my mom was there a lot, but sometimes you’ve got to go home, plus I had 3 older brothers at home. I thought of how lonely I must have gotten. I’ve been told that I would push the nurse button so many times, that they just wheeled my bed out neer the nurses desk. I’m sure I just got sick of being alone. No wonder I talk so much! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and that was certainly true for me. Plus, I had an amazing mom, who was the best nurse, that really got me through. And people like Laura, what an angel.

Me & Laura

This is Laura and I back in the day. She felt bad that I was in the hospital for like 3 weeks straight, so she took me on my hospital bed right outside! I hadn’t been outdoors for awhile and never in a hospital bed, so what an experience! I remember that we accidently knocked down an EXIT sign on our way out and that the elevator started closing on my bed, but we made it.

She was smitten with Carter. She brought some toys for him to play with. Laura never got married or had children, but she has sure helped so many kids in her lifetime. Poor Carter was so tired after his 2 appointments and long lunch, he fell asleep before I even got on the freeway to head home.

She brought toys for me, too! The sparkly wand is something similar to what I used to play with in the hospital. And these dolls (kind of like a rubber ducky material) are ones I used to play with over 30 years ago! These exact dolls! And I used to call the little girl Catherine! She let me keep them and I was so excited.

Laura helped to write some books. I’m in 2 books that she has written for. She brought me one today to keep.

This book is about studies she did with children in the hospital and I’m in the section about Dramatic Play with Family and Animal Figures. I’m role playing with those dolls she gave me. My name is Carrie in the book, since they don’t use children’s actual names. Anyways, this is the section I am in:

What a day! How ironic that I met Laura because of my hip issues and that we reunited after Carter’s hip appointment. Sometimes life really does go full circle!

Tonight Porter helped Marlee make homemade ice cream. These two really like doing projects together.