Transition to the big world - By Elizabeth Barker
I have only recently turned 18, and am now old enough to make the transition to the adults hospital.
I had a choice of many hospitals to go to when I turned 18 and I chose the adults hospital at Westmead because I have been treated most of my life at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead where I got to know a lot of the staff. The hospital is closer to home and I take public transport straight from my main road or a five minute walk from the station.
When I was told that I would have to go to the adults hospital I thought it would be the worst time of my life, a time I would come to dread every three months. I had so many different emotions and feelings running through my body. I didn’t want to grow up. I was scared, worried, and I felt rejected in a weird way, as if the staff didn’t want me at the kids hospital anymore. It was like being in primary school again when you’re just about to go to high school for the first time and all the older kids have told you things that scare you but instead of it being getting my head flushed in a toilet it was along the lines of the nurses are mean and old, I would have to share a room with three other old men, the walls are yucky colours and there is nothing to do around the hospital.
After all the things that the older kids and staff had told me I started to become really nervous and shy, which is not a bit like me. Fear of meeting new people, someone accessing my port that I had never met before, having to share a room with old men, being the youngest had all rushed through my head.
The day I turned up for my first two week tune-up there were young nurses and older nurses with smiles on their faces. I started to relax and feel a little bit more comfortable but I was still getting use to the way things were set up and didn’t know what to say. I got my bed in a single room like I would at the kids hospital so I unpacked my stuff and made my room home like.
All the nurses, cleaners, porters, doctors, physios and even the kitchen staff all commented on how bright and nicely set out my room was. They all liked and were interested in the photos I stuck up on my window.
When it came to food I had no idea what to expect but I gave it a go. You can order soft drinks, poppers and a lot more snack variety than at the kids. The main meals are good, it’s just not a huge variety and it is a lot less than at the kids but it’s ok.
Now for the walls. To be honest, they are not that dull. When the sun hits that green wall near the elevator it is bright - and green – well, it’s not an unusual colour for the kids with CF it’s a normal and natural colour that we see every day coughing up, so the walls are just fine.
If I didn’t have the support I did, and still do, I think that my transition would not have been as enjoyable and as great as it was. I would like to say a huge thank you to Lauren and the staff. Last of all, the walls might be dull to you but it’s not the walls that make the hospital colourful or your stay nice, it is the staff who work there.
