An Unexpected and Moving Gift

I have been a sleep technologist since 2013. In all those years, I have never been so moved by a patient’s kind gesture – until yesterday. I walked into the tech room and found a tall green gift bag on the counter, It had a sticky note on it that read, “Keith – from your patient from last night.”

I admit I was confused. Why would a patient who lived some miles away drive all the way back to our lab to drop off something for me?

Now let me enlighten you to the events of that evening. I only had one patient, a four year old girl. Any child who is under five is usually a one on one patient. Depending on the child, they can really be a handful.

When I went to get my patient from the waiting room, I could tell she was a bit anxious. As we walked to her room, I tried to put her at ease by telling her that she’d be getting a lot of stickers put on her and a rainbow pony tail (the EEG wires are multicolored). When she entered the room, she put her Bluey blanket on the bed with her teddy bear.

I stepped out while her mom did the paperwork and when it looked like they were ready, I went in to begin hooking her up for the study. As I always do, I got down on my knees and pinky promised that there would be “no hurts or shots” tonight. I showed her the wires and let her touch them to see that they didn’t hurt. I let her touch the cleaner, the past, and tape that I would be using. This is so helpful in getting them on your side.

She had Bluey pajamas on and as I put the equipment on I asked her about the cartoon. Who was her favorite character? I would tell her who mine was. I asked if she was ready for Christmas, she nodded. I told her that she was exactly one day older than my son, which made her smile. It was simple conversation – no different than I would do for any other pediatric patient.

There are a couple pieces of equipment that all kids hate. There is a cannula that goes in the nose and a sticker that sits under the nose. They both are there to monitor breathing. It took a bit of sweet talking, but she did allow me to put them on after a bit. Once she was hooked up, I plugged everything in and left the room to let her sleep.

When I went to wake her up in the morning, I dabbed all the tape with adhesive remover so the tape would not hurt when I pulled it off. I then got the rest of the equipment off her, gave her mom a towel and washcloth to help clean her up before she left.

Her mom thanked me for making the study less stressful for her daughter. I told her I was glad to do it. I handed my patient some Bluey stickers and explained follow up stuff before wishing them Happy Holidays and safe travels back home. They had left the building by the time I went back to the room to see if they needed anything.

Now this is a pretty normal night for me. I didn’t feel as though I did anything different than I would for someone else. So to see this bag when I walked in really had me wondering what it was all about.

When I looked inside the bag, there were a couple metal cars and a couple small monster trucks. This confused me more. It was then that I noticed the card inside.

“I wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank you for the exceptional care and kindness you showed my daughter during her sleep study. From the very beginning you went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable, safe and supported. As a parent it is incredibly meaningful to see someone treat your child with such genuine compassion. It is clear that you are truly in the right field. Please accept this small token of appreciation for your and your son as a thank you from our hearts.”

I cannot even begin to tell you how this wonderful note took my breath away. It brought tears to my eyes as I read these words of thanks and praise. I’m not sure why it hit me the way it did. As I said, I don’t think I did anything different than I would for someone else. I was simply doing my job.

I guess you don’t really know the impact that you make on a person. I am so glad to have made the night an easy one for them. I am happy to know that I passed along a smile to such a sweet and kind family. I plan on sitting down and writing a thank you card/letter to send their way. I hope that I can find the right words to express my gratitude and explain just how much their words meant to me.

In a world that is filled with hatred, despair, and anger, it warms my heart to know that there are still people in this world that make it a better place with love and kindness.