Cardinal Glennon

It's not new that we are in St.Louis at Cardinal Glennon A LOT!

But in the last few visits I, and even Eowyn has made a few observations....

It is a bit of a drive to start with so we never really like to schedule anything earlier then 10 to 1030 because then we do not have to leave the house before 7ish that morning.

When you come into the Hospital you have to sign in and get a name tag.. anyone over 12 that is not a patient has to have one of these.. We can always tell when its a new person because they never know what my last name start with.. This last week it was not our normal ladies but we did pass them right after getting my tag and she smiled in recognition and waved...

We come into the Costas Center (the children's oncology department in Cardinal Glennon) and a few months back we got new front desk ladies in there.. She said.. Hey Eowyn as we walked in and was super happy to have remembered her name and that I was Mom number 1.. the Dory of the two.. (totally ok with this because it is very true.. just ask anyone!) We get her arm band and head on our way to do labs...

We sign in and sit and wait.. it's very busy in lab this time a year no matter where you go so it's a little bit of a wait... She is called back (we really do not go with her for most of what she has done at this point.. she prefers it that way) and me and Jace just sit and wait.. well it's taking awhile because they need a urine sample as well and she didn't drink a whole lot on the way which was my fault for not making her. I load our stuff up and head that way only to meet her lab tech around the corner with cup in hand to tell me.. Winnie is still in there so I just told her to do it later, you know how she is, we get it sometimes and sometimes we don't lol.

So off to Dallas Heart Center to get our EKG thingy done... get in there and she has her be back at 1 sign up.. no big we are hungry at this point.. so we start heading back to Costas to let them know what we are doing. On our way we see two people... one is our fav transport ladies.. her job is to get you from place to place when in the hospital or if you need to go for something over at SLU she takes you through the tunnel that connects the two.. she can never really remember Winnie's name but she knows her.. so Winnie waves and she hugs her and we go on our way.. next is a housekeeper we see all the time.. again we don't really know names here but we know we see each other all the time so she waves and ask how we are and it's good to see each other...

Get to Costas and we let our fav not front desk lady anymore, know we are going to lunch please let our Nurse know.

We get to the cafe and it's a Thursday so not our normal day.. We see her Fav chef station guy.. We used to see him all the time but he switched days..  He see's her and lights up and remembers her name and knows what he has she won't eat.. but is happy to see her anyway. We get our food and while getting drinks see our Nurse from the NF clinic so she calls over to let scheduling know we need an appointment before we leave today... hugs Eowyn and off she goes...

We sit down to eat and suddenly hear in a deep male Indian voice... Eowyn! How are you dear!? Look up to see her Neurologist (well one of them). She says hi and we talk for a few seconds and he goes on his way bobbing his happy Indian head back and forth.. we love him, he is always smiling!!! Eowyn mimics him when she says how much she likes how happy he is! lol Then, again we hear.. "Eowyn!! what are doing here it's not Tuesday!" We look up to see the Dallas Heart Center receptionist.. I tell her we are actually just waiting on her to go back and we will be there to see her.

We go and get the EKG  done and head to Costas for the last part of our day in hopes at this point labs are back and done. The nurse that comes out to get us is Anna and she had said Eowyn's name a few times before we actually heard her so she stands in front of us and says.. hey.. guys.. it's me Anna.. remember me.. she is a hoot. Get back to a room and we see our Nuro Oncologist.. she does her visit and then we talk about Jace and then Little Duck and she sits at the table with me and looks at me with such concern and asked me if I am taking care of myself and tells me how important that is because we do so much and are taking on so much, I joke and kinda laugh and she says.. I know you are doing that to avoid how serious I am being so please hear me.. self care is so very important Stephanie. So I thank her for her concern. She is amazing and we love her too!!

We get done and everything looks good.. we go to leave and she says bye to one of her favorite people up there (He helps keep kids company while doing chemo and stuff) Huey! He hugs her and says I will see you on the 20th.. which is her next appointment..

So I said ALL that to say this....

This is what makes this hospital especially so amazing.. the fact that from check in to housekeeping.. they get to know there people and they care.. the cafe staff care... the reception staff care.. the doctors know their patients and they care about not only them but the people that take care of them... Huey cares enough to at least pay attention and check or listen to when he will see her next! Sometimes people take for granted the people they see all the time but for us it's such a blessing to see these familiar faces! No matter what their job is in that building they all give the same level of care and concern for everyone that comes through the doors no matter what race, age or sex they are! And they do not make the kids feel sick.. they treat them like normal kids! If you find yourself in a position such as us were you do frequent your children's hospital then thank your housekeeper.. thank your kitchen staff.. thank the receptionist.. they make and go that extra step to make sure your child is loved on.

Also I realize this means we are there A LOT!! lol