Email Updates and Medical Clowns

I've added a new feature so you can now get email updates from the blog. It can be found on the top left hand side of the home page.

Yesterday the hospital was filled with clowns. Shaarie Zedek is a big believer in the use of medical clowns. These are a group of people who are specially trained not only to be clowns but also in a little psychology, counseling, and some medical procedures. They are amazing. I tried to talk to one last night but ended up crying. Let me explain.

When our son Shimmy was 2 years old he needed a surgery that would require general anesthesia. We had been able to push it off from the time he was 9 months but now the time had come. I was nervous. All parents are nervous about surgery on their children, but this was general anesthesia on a two year old. That meant he couldn't eat for 12 hours before the surgery. Have you ever spent 10 minutes with a two year old who didn't eat anything in the last 2 hours? A hungry 2 year old is quite frankly an immovable force. How was I going to get through the time between when he woke up and when they did the surgery? The doctor's assurance that they would sedate him was anything but reassuring. A sedative and then general anesthesia and surgery.

We somehow made it to the hospital in one piece. I could tell the time for the great battle was getting closer and started to prepare myself. That's when two doctors approached me. They said the hospital was doing a study on the effectiveness of medical clowns in replacing sedatives in children before surgery. Would I give permission for Shimmy participate in the study? Sure!!

All I can say was that it was amazing. A lady showed up in full clown costume. She played with and entertained Shimmy in ways you will never see in a surgical ward. She had him riding on IV poles and equipment carts, playing with ballons, laughing like he was having the time of his life. She started to explain to him what would happen next.

She took the small bear that the nurses had given him and an infant O2 mask. She explained that the doctor was going to put it on him to help him go to sleep. Then they practiced putting the tiny mask on the bear. After that they practiced putting the mask on Shimmy. He thought it was all a fun game. As the time came closer for him to go, they brought surgical scrubs for Shimmy...and the clown! She dressed in full surgical scrubs and accompanied us to the OR. She stayed with him until he fell asleep.He made it to the OR without any extra sedatives.

The whole time he experience no fear or anxiety, never cried or screamed. Other parents looked like they where at their wits end, but the parents that got the clowns where all almost as calm as our children. In fact, when after it was all said and done, Shimmy wanted to know if he could go back to the hospital next week to see the clown again. Even several years later when he broke his arm, the only was we could convince him to get in the ambulance and go to the hospital was by telling him it was the hospital with the clowns.

Amazingly they found that the method worked really well in reducing the amount of medication given to small children and that, in turn helps the recovery process. Medical clowns are now used extensively for many purposes in the hospital. 

Medical clowns truly changed our lives. They turned what had the potential to be a a traumatic experience into an unforgettable memory. I never had the opportunity to thank the woman who made such an impact on us. Maybe it was everything that happened then. Maybe it was everything that is happening now. Whatever the reason, I was so overcome with emotions when I tried to tell this woman how important her work was that I cried through the words. I will forever be thankful to the people who do this and to the people who support them.