“I love this hospital.”

Robin and her five-year-old son, Joshua, were on a weekend visit to McKinney, Texas when Joshua suddenly had trouble breathing. Robin took him to the emergency room at Medical Center of McKinney, where the doctors said he needed to go to Medical City Children’s Hospital. She’d never heard of the hospital, but because of what happened over the next eight days, she says Medical City Children’s Hospital “has won our vote of confidence.”

The first thing that struck Robin was that the doctors and nurses talked directly to Joshua rather than only to her—they made sure that he understood what was happening. And even though Joshua was cared for by “a rotating array of doctors, nurse practitioners, and pulminologists, they all seemed to know when they came into the room what we had already been told so there wasn’t a lot of repetition or crossed wires.”

Joshua had bacterial pneumonia, but it would be a few days before a definitive diagnosis could be made. In the meantime, doctors started him on antibiotics and vigilantly worked to keep him out of the PICU and free from the need for a chest tube to drain fluid. Gradually, the staff weaned Joshua off oxygen, and one day later, he was discharged.

Robin saves her greatest praise for the Medical City Children’s Hospital nursing staff. “Having experience in other hospitals, I know how one mean nurse or support person can ruin the day. I waited each day for the ‘mean nurse’ to show up, and with every shift, there was another wonderful staff member who felt like a friend. They were there to make us laugh, guide us through the sea of questions we had, and treat Joshua from head to toe with care and respect. During a time of much worry and fear, each one gently answered questions, helped with the smallest of details and, more than anything, loved my little boy. I felt safe and as at home as anyone can feel in a hospital far from home and friends. I didn’t know that nurses like that existed!”

Robin concludes, “As we were leaving, Joshua said, ‘I love this hospital.’ I feel the same way. Blessings to Medical City Children’s Hospital for making what can be such a scary place the kind of place that my son loves and even says he will miss!”

To learn about other experiences that parents and children have had at Medical City Children’s Hospital, read our other success stories.