Having to take your child to the emergency room is always a scary and nerve-wracking experience. Two local families went through just that when their kids got sick and had to be hospitalized recently. But this week, they received some positive news.
They get to go home — just in time for the holidays.
Katie and Brian Martin from D.C. have been staying at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital for over two weeks while their 1-year-old daughter, Summer, gets treated for a serious respiratory infection.
“We had her in the ER, and then she was admitted here and was ultimately intubated, but she’s on the other side of it, which is a testament to how great the staff and everyone is here,” Katie Martin said. “She looks like a different baby from last week.”
Martin said she and her husband have been trading 12-hour shifts at the hospital, while the other takes care of their 5-year-old son at home.
Martin said Summer is feeling better and will only need to quarantine and take some medications moving forward.
“This is all we wanted for Christmas this year,” Martin said. “A healthy kiddo back home.”
Another mother is also feeling the same kind of relief this week. Jacqueline Coates, of D.C., has also been staying at MedStar Georgetown, while her 6-year-old daughter, Jade, receives treatment for complications from pneumonia.
“It is very hard to see her so sick. She’s normally such a good kid, so to see her cry or just be miserable, I felt so helpless,” Coates said. “What am I supposed to do? But I did what I did and took her to the hospital.”
Coates said Jade is on the mend now and relieved to be able to go home.
She and other kids at the hospital got a special visit from Santa Claus on Tuesday, and she received a celebratory teddy bear.
“We didn’t get to go see Santa at the mall like we normally do,” Coates said. “So to still get to see him is a good surprise for her.”
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