Last week, my daughter was admitted to Victoria General Hospital, her illness had nothing to do with COVID-19, but I knew the pandemic might change our hospital experience.
When the pandemic began, I stayed home and found ways to order groceries through a local restaurant and ordered anything else I needed through curbside pick up or online shopping.
Going places made me nervous, I felt for all the health-care workers in the hospitals and thought about what a scary place it would be work during a pandemic.
Little did I know that I would be spending nearly four days in Victoria General Hospital with my daughter.
It’s easy to sit at home and say “I’d never go to the hospital in the middle of pandemic,” when your family is healthy. But when your kid gets sick, it is scary, and there’s no other choice. I find great comfort that we have medical professionals and hospitals available when we need them.
When I drove my daughter to the hospital in the middle of the night, I wasn’t sure what to expect and I knew things would be different because of the pandemic. We were screened at the door, but once inside, we were made to feel very comfortable and cared for.
I assumed the service might have been limited; I know that it is a stressful time for everyone. I would have been happy to receive nothing above satisfactory care, but that’s not what happened.
From screening to registration, emergency room to the pediatric ward, and from checking vital signs to MRIs and ultrasounds, every step of the way we received top-notch treatment. There is not one thing I could mention that should be improved upon. All of the staff were friendly, compassionate and extremely professional.
The incredible medical teams helped us understand the situation and explained everything in a way that helped us manage and make sense of everything. The doctors were knowledgeable, caring, and informative. The nurses cared for my daughter medically and on top of their duties, they cracked jokes and offered kindness you would hope for from a friend. The support staff and cafeteria workers had the friendliest and service-driven attitudes.
We had some tough times and were very facing some scary circumstances. My daughter had some tests and scans that were scary, uncomfortable, and painful. That is a lot for a 10-year-old, and even when her fear made things tough, the compassion from staff never wavered. I don’t know how they do it.
As a parent, it is extremely hard to see your child sick, and our experience at Victoria General Hospital was of the highest-quality service and level of care that we could expect. It’s that extra step that made it easier to navigate.
The fact that this was our experience during pandemic warms my heart, our front-line health workers are doing an incredible job and that is no easy feat.
If you’ve put hearts in your window or if you’ve been banging pots or honking your horn at 7 p.m. each night, these folks really deserve the kudos. I am certain they are this amazing all the time, and we are fortunate here in Greater Victoria to have access to medical care from these amazing people.
At the beginning of the pandemic, my daughter coloured hearts and taped them in our windows, she took the Times Colonist heart flag and taped it in the window, too.
I never would have imagined that she would be requiring medical care from front-line workers just a few weeks later. You never know when you or your family members are going to need the service.
I am writing this column sitting in a chair next to my daughter’s hospital bed as she sleeps. By the time you read this, we will be back home, and she should be doing much better.
Our hospital stay has ended, but I acknowledge that hospital beds will continue to be needed by families in need of care from these dedicated front-line health professionals.
The hearts in our windows have a deeper meaning now. Thank you, front-line staff, for all that you do!
Charla Huber is the Director of Communications and Indigenous Relations for M’akola Housing Society.
