Working with sick children is not for the faint of heart

The Advertiser

30-06-2025

Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from Australian Community Media, which has journalists in every state and territory. Today's is written by Southern Inlands editor Sally Foy.
Last week, my son was airlifted to Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick after he became seriously unwell with Influenza A.
He is 13 and has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, which is a diagnosis that includes daily seizures that are not able to be controlled by medication, severe intellectual impairment (he's non-verbal), Autism, ADHD and a number of other additional challenges to his everyday life.
So when my child's temperature went up, and his seizures began to spiral, it required an immediate response.
As you can imagine, a child with the diagnosis I've outlined above requires lots of time spent in the hospital. However, this was our first stint as inpatients for quite a few years, as he has been relatively stable for some time now.
After having a bit of a break from inpatient stays, being thrown back into the hospital environment again reminded me why, when faced with the challenge of parenting an unwell child, I've always been so grateful to live in Australia.
Say what you will about the NSW health care system, the people who work inside the hospitals always leave me somewhat lost for words by their dedication and care.
From the doctors to the nurses, specialist staff, admin workers, allied therapists, etc, every person I've ever come across at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick appears to me as though they have truly answered a calling.
I'm sure they have days where their work is just work, but from where I have sat over many years now as a scared and somewhat helpless parent, these people and their selflessness when it comes to the vulnerable children in their care are the reason I don't fall apart.
I just wanted to drop this note to say thank you.
This is also an opportunity to make the public service announcement that while in the ICU, I was told that the week prior, the entire floor was filled with previously healthy kids who had to spend sometimes up to seven days intubated due to Influenza A.
This is a particularly nasty strain. Take the time to speak to your doctor and get your child vaccinated if you haven't already.
Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from Australian Community Media, which has journalists in every state and territory. Today's is written by Southern Inlands editor Sally Foy.
Last week, my son was airlifted to Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick after he became seriously unwell with Influenza A.
He is 13 and has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, which is a diagnosis that includes daily seizures that are not able to be controlled by medication, severe intellectual impairment (he's non-verbal), Autism, ADHD and a number of other additional challenges to his everyday life.
So when my child's temperature went up, and his seizures began to spiral, it required an immediate response.
As you can imagine, a child with the diagnosis I've outlined above requires lots of time spent in the hospital. However, this was our first stint as inpatients for quite a few years, as he has been relatively stable for some time now.
After having a bit of a break from inpatient stays, being thrown back into the hospital environment again reminded me why, when faced with the challenge of parenting an unwell child, I've always been so grateful to live in Australia.
Say what you will about the NSW health care system, the people who work inside the hospitals always leave me somewhat lost for words by their dedication and care.
From the doctors to the nurses, specialist staff, admin workers, allied therapists, etc, every person I've ever come across at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick appears to me as though they have truly answered a calling.
I'm sure they have days where their work is just work, but from where I have sat over many years now as a scared and somewhat helpless parent, these people and their selflessness when it comes to the vulnerable children in their care are the reason I don't fall apart.
I just wanted to drop this note to say thank you.
This is also an opportunity to make the public service announcement that while in the ICU, I was told that the week prior, the entire floor was filled with previously healthy kids who had to spend sometimes up to seven days intubated due to Influenza A.
This is a particularly nasty strain. Take the time to speak to your doctor and get your child vaccinated if you haven't already.
Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from Australian Community Media, which has journalists in every state and territory. Today's is written by Southern Inlands editor Sally Foy.
Last week, my son was airlifted to Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick after he became seriously unwell with Influenza A.
He is 13 and has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, which is a diagnosis that includes daily seizures that are not able to be controlled by medication, severe intellectual impairment (he's non-verbal), Autism, ADHD and a number of other additional challenges to his everyday life.
So when my child's temperature went up, and his seizures began to spiral, it required an immediate response.
As you can imagine, a child with the diagnosis I've outlined above requires lots of time spent in the hospital. However, this was our first stint as inpatients for quite a few years, as he has been relatively stable for some time now.
After having a bit of a break from inpatient stays, being thrown back into the hospital environment again reminded me why, when faced with the challenge of parenting an unwell child, I've always been so grateful to live in Australia.
Say what you will about the NSW health care system, the people who work inside the hospitals always leave me somewhat lost for words by their dedication and care.
From the doctors to the nurses, specialist staff, admin workers, allied therapists, etc, every person I've ever come across at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick appears to me as though they have truly answered a calling.
I'm sure they have days where their work is just work, but from where I have sat over many years now as a scared and somewhat helpless parent, these people and their selflessness when it comes to the vulnerable children in their care are the reason I don't fall apart.
I just wanted to drop this note to say thank you.
This is also an opportunity to make the public service announcement that while in the ICU, I was told that the week prior, the entire floor was filled with previously healthy kids who had to spend sometimes up to seven days intubated due to Influenza A.
This is a particularly nasty strain. Take the time to speak to your doctor and get your child vaccinated if you haven't already.
Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from Australian Community Media, which has journalists in every state and territory. Today's is written by Southern Inlands editor Sally Foy.
Last week, my son was airlifted to Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick after he became seriously unwell with Influenza A.
He is 13 and has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, which is a diagnosis that includes daily seizures that are not able to be controlled by medication, severe intellectual impairment (he's non-verbal), Autism, ADHD and a number of other additional challenges to his everyday life.
So when my child's temperature went up, and his seizures began to spiral, it required an immediate response.
As you can imagine, a child with the diagnosis I've outlined above requires lots of time spent in the hospital. However, this was our first stint as inpatients for quite a few years, as he has been relatively stable for some time now.
After having a bit of a break from inpatient stays, being thrown back into the hospital environment again reminded me why, when faced with the challenge of parenting an unwell child, I've always been so grateful to live in Australia.
Say what you will about the NSW health care system, the people who work inside the hospitals always leave me somewhat lost for words by their dedication and care.
From the doctors to the nurses, specialist staff, admin workers, allied therapists, etc, every person I've ever come across at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick appears to me as though they have truly answered a calling.
I'm sure they have days where their work is just work, but from where I have sat over many years now as a scared and somewhat helpless parent, these people and their selflessness when it comes to the vulnerable children in their care are the reason I don't fall apart.
I just wanted to drop this note to say thank you.
This is also an opportunity to make the public service announcement that while in the ICU, I was told that the week prior, the entire floor was filled with previously healthy kids who had to spend sometimes up to seven days intubated due to Influenza A.
This is a particularly nasty strain. Take the time to speak to your doctor and get your child vaccinated if you haven't already.