The weekend can be kind of slow in the hospital. Not much going on, less doctors running in and out. When Joakim came this afternoon, I realized that I had been in Jacob's room for over 24 hours only leaving the room very briefly to fill up my cup of coffee.
It was time to venture out for a walk around the hospital. It has been an unusual cold and wet spring in Colorado this year. Today is an exception. The sun is out, and no rain in the forecast! My friend Heather had called me earlier prompting me to go for a walk, and find our Ben's Bells that we hung around the hospital a week ago.
My friend Jenny brought Ben's Bells (www.bensbells.org) to Colorado. Ben's Bells was created by a mom in Arizona who lost her son to sudden death at age 3. She felt as she was dying herself, and the only thing that kept her going was the kindness around her. She needed kindness from everyone, not just from her friends, but also from the man in the bank or the person she met on the street. Kindness made her survive the death of her son. She started creating colorful clay bells - Ben's bells - in the memory of her son Ben. I remember when Jenny told me this story the first time. I wasn't sure I was buying in to the concept completely. Would finding a clay bell truly make a difference in a person's life?
Having now been part of the first distribution of Ben's bells in Colorado, and having read the powerful stories (http://www.bensbells.org/Stories/index2.php) from people finding the bells, I am convinced. Being part of Ben's Bells is powerful, and it creates kindness.
So, as I ventured out to search for Ben's bells, I also searched for kindness. I was happy to see that most of our bells had found an owner. I did find one of our bells on the walk over to the ER from the cafeteria. The bell is still waiting for it's right owner. It made me feel good. The Children's Hospital is a place that in so many ways demonstrates kindness, but at the same time it is in need of large kindness.
Our little boy seems to feel a little bit better day by day. Today, he has been sitting up in his chair for a few hours, and tolerated that ok. He still needs oxygen at all times, and has thick secretions that he coughs up.
His medical team is cautious to send us home this time. Pulmonology wants to make sure we don't go home too early. They are afraid that Jacob could take a sudden turn for the worse, so there is no talk about discharge just yet. So, baby steps as we go into a new week.
Much love,
Maria.
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