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Although her hospitalization occurred almost a decade ago, Murphy Williams still remembers the time that she spent in Wolfson Children’s Hospital. Now, a junior at Episcopal High School, Murphy is a young woman who serves others with the kindness and encouragement that she remembers receiving as a young child when she was ill.
On New Year's Eve, 2000, at the age of six and a half, Murphy became very, very ill with vomiting that just couldn’t be stopped, high fever and severe dehydration. The condition came on suddenly and inexplicably.
After a visit with her pediatrician and a misdiagnosis that caused some delay in her treatment, little Murphy finally was sent to Wolfson’s ER, where initially it was still unclear as to what was causing Murphy's symptoms. With her eye swelling and her vision becoming impaired, Dr. Richard Laucks was called in as a specialist. A cat scan finally revealed the problem: an infection of the mastoid bone. Mastoiditis can be mild or life threatening, if left untreated. Murphy’s illness needed immediate intervention.
In no time at all, a team was assembled to perform a mastoidectomy, surgery on the mastoid bone to remove the infection from this very delicate area of the body. Fortunately, the doctors caught the infection in time, and there was no involvement with the brain. Murphy's mom said that the experience, though very difficult for Murphy, was made easier for the family by the encouragement, support and friendliness of the entire Wolfson staff.
Mrs. Williams also remembers some of the things that made their stay at Wolfson so much easier. Murphy's room - where her mother slept during the entire stay - was extremely comfortable for Mrs. Williams, and she found the layout of the whole hospital easy to navigate. She was grateful that the chaplain came in right away, and she enjoyed being able to take Murphy across the connector since Murphy wasn’t strong or well enough to make the walk herself.
Although all of this occurred while Murphy was a young child, Murphy has vivid memories of her stay at Wolfson. She said that the infectious disease people were particularly nice and always tickled her, which came to be the highlight of her day.
A pet therapy dog really captured her heart as she remembers riding on a giant Burmese Mountain dog that came to her room.
Wolfson patients are cared for in the same expert care way today, a decade later. |
