"Supportive chat"

I was recently in hospital with my teenage autistic daughter who underwent major spinal surgery. We were in for 12 days and I was sleeping (or not) on the ward with my daughter. 

When Tricia (Health Play Assistant) called in to see my daughter, I met her outside the bedside curtain, she used this opportunity to ask me how I was doing, and I burst into tears. She then invited me to sit with her in a quiet room on the ward to lend a listening ear.

I would like to let her and her manager know how much I appreciated this. And listen she did! I was able to tell her about our difficult family situation and how anxious I felt. When I told her that my daughter has Autism with pathological demand avoidance (PDA), she was honest and said she hadn’t come across it before. She was really open minded and said she would like to learn more. I wish this could be said about more healthcare professionals.

Another nice touch was that Tricia  also told me her personal story about how she ended up doing the job she does (when I asked her) and it was really interesting. 

We also talked about the Edinburgh Children Charity and their free complementary massage offer.  Tricia dropped off a leaflet at my daughter’s bedside for me and she called back in person the next day  to see if I had seen it (by that time,  I had already been to see the massage therapist and booked myself in for a massage , which by the way did me a world of good and helped me to cope).

I have to say when I look back at our hospital stay, the play team came up trumps (I already posted a story😉about another worker from the team).

So here is a very big thank you to Tricia for being so supportive, compassionate and caring . Up to the point when I spoke to her , no one had asked how we were doing or what mattered to us .