Hasbro Children's Hospital
Letters of Recognition
I am writing to share with you the wonderful experience my family
and I have had over the past six weeks, during which time my nine-year
old son, David, was a patient at the Hasbro Children's Partial Hospital
Program (HCPHP).
David, who was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in March 2005, is
a patient at the Hasbro GI clinic. David has had a tough year since
being diagnosed. He was hospitalized at Hasbro for ten days in March
for various diagnostic tests and surgery. After finally feeling
better and beginning to function pretty well during the months of
June and July, David started having problems again in August. These
problems escalated through the fall, until David was feeling so
ill and in so much pain that he was unable to attend school. In
November, David spent another eight days as in inpatient at Hasbro.
By December, when he was admitted to the PHP, David has been out
of school for almost eight weeks. His days were filled with pain
and anxiety and he had gotten to the point of no longer being able
to function due to his illness.
At the suggestion of our pediatrician, Dr. Susan Pakula, David
was admitted to the Hasbro PHP on December 12, and from that point
on we were blessed to have the most wonderful, caring and compassionate
professionals working with and taking care of David. David's medical
care was expertly handled by Dr. Diane DerMarderosian and Dr. Heather
Chapman. Their pediatric expertise and their ability to connect
with kids was quite evident in their interactions with David. They
also did an outstanding job of coordinating David's medical care
and treatment plan with his GI physicians.
David was also extremely fortunate to have Susan Burgoyne, RN,
and Mary-Ellen Mullen, RN, as his nurses. In addition to tending
to David's medical needs on daily basis, Sue and Mary-Ellen coordinated
everything related to David's IV medication therapy with the home
infusion company. Everything they did was designed to maximize David's
success with his treatment, while reducing the amount of stress
on his family. Both Sue and Mary-Ellen were a pleasure to work with,
and even on the most difficult days, were always by David's side
with a smile on their faces, patiently taking care of his needs.
In addition to receiving wonderful medical care, a major factor
in David's success at the program was due to the individual therapy
provided to him by Fran Pingitore, RN. In her daily therapy sessions
with David, Fran did an incredible job of helping David get to know
himself better and to recognize his feelings. With Fran's help,
David is now able to effectively and appropriately express his feelings,
both positive and negative. I believe that this individual therapy,
combined with the medical, social and academic components of his
treatment plan at the program, was instrumental in returning David
to being the wonderful, bright and fun-loving boy that we know and
love. Fran also worked with us as a family, and helped us to work
on the many issues faced by families of children with chronic illnesses.
Fran's transition plan for getting David back to school on a gradual
basis worked beautifully, and he will return to school on a full-time
basis on January 31. Fran worked very closely with the team at David's
school to effectively prepare both David and the team for his return
to school.
Melissa Soares, milieu therapist, often spent seven hours a day
with David. She saw him at his best and his worst. Her caring approach
and encouragement provided David with the tools to better deal with
his illness. Melissa encouraged David to be a leader, a role that
gave him much positive reinforcement and an enhanced level of self-esteem.
There are so many other staff members of the PHP whose touch David
felt on a daily basis. From "Mr. D" (David Desjardins,
program teacher) to Ana Santos, senior milieu therapist, to Lynn
Pascale, MSW, to Ayana Bass, program secretary- these people were
always there to lend a helping hand, and to serve as an integral
part of the PHP team.
In closing, I am truly honored and thankful to have had the opportunity
to work with so may dedicated and caring professionals. It is very
clear that everyone associated with the PHP operates with a single
goal in mind: that goal is to work with children so that they can
move on with their lives and return to their normal routines. The
PHP reaches this goal by truly working as a team to provide the
highest possible level of care, and by keeping the lines of communication
open between the program, home and school. The assistance and dedication
of these gifted caregivers is truly appreciated.
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