I had a great therapy cat visit at the children’s hospital. I spent a lot of time in the lobby, starting at the arts and crafts table. There were some kids in wheelchairs who wanted to see me. My man made me sit in a chair next to one of them so he could take care of me while he told us about his cat at home. The other girl had her hands bent at weird angles, so my man made sure he could hold me the best way he could.
Even though most of the kids waiting for visits were buried in their phones, many of them stopped what they were doing to take care of me. One of them is a teenage boy. Some of the older guys act like they don’t care, so it’s always nice to see the genuine and kind ones.
Our visits to exam rooms are relatively quick this time. Often when we visit, it is while patients are waiting to see a doctor or nurse. But this time, most of them are with someone. So while the staff was happy to see me, and even knew me by name, I didn’t want to take up too much of the time they had with patients.
A kid who had a few hours happened to be a toddler who was so excited to see me! But even though he screamed as loud as he could so grabby, my man and I were both calm. The toddler’s mom encourages him to be gentle and he calms down enough to get in some cute pets. A couple of staff showed up with a bag of gifts for her as we were leaving. Tomorrow is his birthday.
We lingered back in the lobby to see more kids. A girl with an injured leg has a knee scooter and rolls to sit with her family. I visited them, and his brother even gave me a high five.
I also had the pleasure of visiting rehab. One girl paused her PT to hug me, and as she squatted down, her therapist adjusted her ankles. Another patient was a little boy who was happy to see me. But we can only visit him for a while because his appointment is about to end.
While we were there, it didn’t seem like much. We finished a few minutes earlier than before. But looking back, we really did a lot.
