Mobiles

The rooms in the PICU are fairly utilitarian, as you might imagine. Although there was a single painted acoustic ceiling tile that a child could see when laying flat on his or her back, there really wasn’t much interest in the room.

While C was in the hospital, we tried our best to perk things up. I had my brother-in-law print out some pictures, C’s first grade class sent cards and we hung those on the wall, and M’s room at daycare made a banner.

About half-way through his stay, a friend brought a mobile to put up in his room. This one in fact:



It was great. As C started to emerge from sedation, it was something with movement for him to focus on – and it calmed the adults in the room in the same way.

One of the doctors noted just how great this particular mobile was because it was plastic and could thus be cleaned and sanitized given the meds and bodily fluids that sometime fly around such a hospital room (don’t think to hard on that, ‘k?). She said it would be nice to have more of those.

When C finally was released, I tracked down the manufacturer of the mobile and acquired their product list. I identified all the mobiles that were made of plastic and then asked for (first) a donation of the mobiles to the hospital, and then (what they said yes to) a major discount. Several weeks after C’s release, the hospital received twenty unique mobiles from Flensted Mobiles of Denmark. They are in the rooms and halls of the PICU and we’ve been told they are a welcome addition to the space.

Since then, we give one more mobile each April to the PICU along with an update on C (and a new photo) and renewed thanks for all they did for us. It’s important for us to let them know how we continue to appreciate all they did for C and for us, and it’s more personal and directed than the other fundraising we do for the hospital (more on that in a few days).

Now that it’s March, it’s time to start thinking about this year’s mobile. Last year we gave them this one:



This years contenders are:

What do you think?