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Warmth pervades hospital and the house next doorBy BILL STEVENS
© St. Petersburg Times, Ninety-eight steps from the front door of the oldest Ronald McDonald House in Florida, a healthy, giant oak towers toward the sky. We passed the tree several times recently on the short stroll to All Children's Hospital. Its welcome shade sheltered cars of the fortunate few, yet you couldn't help but wonder how it survived the construction of all the medical facilities in this section of St. Petersburg. Traffic must maneuver around the tree, and somebody decided that asphalt near the bulging root system should be replaced with a decorative surface that allows rainwater to trickle into the earth, not run off to some retention area. You get the feeling here that all lives warrant extraordinary attention, from the parking lot to the intensive care unit where our brave teenager spent a long night amid the beeps of monitors and whimpering of the tiniest babies. In a perfect world, children would never suffer. New hearts would pump strong, not flutter and puff. Alexandria, the 6-month-old whose parents we met while sampling the fried chicken at the Ronald McDonald House, would not be lying there with a 6-inch scar on her chest where surgeons only hours earlier had entered to repair a valve. Intensive care units are designed so nurses can view all the patients at once. So while a visitor means to respect privacy, there really is very little. How sad it is to see a worrying mother sitting in the bed with her critically ill toddler, reading a fairy tale. Yet the nurses turn any maudlin conversation around quickly, accenting the wonderful success stories, of which there are many. We found ourselves at All Children's because Carley, our 15-year-old who loves to play sports, got to where she could hardly breathe after even a brief workout. For about two years, she had complained about occasional chest pain when playing soccer or volleyball, but pediatricians checked her heart and found it strong and regular. But when the symptoms persisted and got more consistent, we decided to take her to a pediatric cardiologist. She wore heart monitors that, long story short, revealed a condition called supraventricular tachycardia. She could either take medicine to ease the symptoms, or she could undergo an operation in which a doctor would use a catheter to burn off a nerve that caused her heart to race under certain circumstances. It is actually a fairly common procedure these days, and before we agreed to the operation, we talked to parents of other children who had been cured by the same cardiologist, Dr. Jorge McCormack. We were convinced that the procedure would not be life-threatening, but when you watch your precious daughter get hooked up to an IV and wheeled into an operating room, you start having your own heart pains. And when you are told she will probably be out in two hours and then the fourth hour comes and goes, your brain starts playing tricks on you. We'll know in short order whether Carley will need more treatment, but Dr. McCormack believes she can return to normal physical activity without consequence. We have spent the days since the operation pampering (She loves it!) and reflecting on the generosity of our friends who warmed us with their prayers and kind words. We have said our own prayers for all those other little ones -- and for the special people who volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House. This is such a special place. When you check in, a kindly volunteer makes you feel at home, right down to offering you to help yourself to what seems to be a Thanksgiving day feast in the kitchen. You meet other parents whose children are next door, and before you know it, you're exchanging hugs. In a book on your dresser, mothers and fathers carefully write their thoughts and express their gratitude for such kindness at a desperate time. When you leave, you want to volunteer your own services. And as you drive away, you glance once more toward the hospital. Just beyond the thriving oak. - Bill Stevens is the Times' North Suncoast editor.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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