"To our family Ronald McDonald House is more than a building,
their slogan is that RMH is the house that love built and they show that every
day.
We have two daughters, Jillian who is 4 and Lydia who is
6mo. They both are considered to be undiagnosed. Their digestive system does
not work properly so they are fed with a GJ tube. Jillian is on oxygen anytime
she is awake and she also wears leg braces. We have had over 100 doctors
appointments at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in the past 4 years. Between
the two girls there have been 16 hospital admissions and 9 trips into the operating
room. We are at Children’s a lot! We live about an hour away which makes it
difficult to commute back and forth when we have to be there multiple days in a
row. That is where RMH comes in.
RMH is a place to lay our heads at the end of a long day.
When we check into RMH the girls are given tokens to go to the Magic Room. In
the Magic Room, they get to pick out a toy and a book. This is a very exciting
thing for Jillian! She gets so excited on the elevator ride down to the Magic
Room. Jilli loves Peppa Pig and one time on a trip to the Magic Room they had a
Peppa Pig toy. Her face lit up and she plays with the toy she gets in the Magic
Room while we are at appointments or in the hospital. A trip to the magic room
is something for her to look forward to when she knows some scary medical
things are coming up.
We then go up to our room where there is a bag on the bed
with toiletries in case we forgot anything which helps with my piece of mind to
know that if we forgot a toothbrush or soap that it is there in case we need
it. There is also always a stuffed animal waiting on our bed for us which
always makes Jillian smile. Last week when we got to our room there was a teddy
bear on the bed and this bear and Jilli have been inseparable this week. She
always sleeps with the stuffed animal that is on the bed.
There are three sections of rooms at the RMH in Milwaukee.
There is the original section where all of the rooms are around the great room.
These rooms have two twin beds in them. There is the new section and in those
rooms there is one queen sized bed and a love seat. The third section is long
term rooms. These rooms are larger and have a small living room area in
addition to the bed room and bathroom. Long term rooms are for families that
have been at RMH for longer then 60 days. We have some friends who have been at
RMH from out of state since July. 70 families are able to stay at RMH in
Milwaukee at one time.
After we get settled into our room we typically head to the
playroom. Jillian loves to play dress up in the playroom. Behind the playroom
is the green room which has the coffee maker and has plants growing inside of
it. Behind the green room is Jillian’s other favorite room, the art room. 4
days a week there is art therapy. The hospital and RMH share two art therapists
who come in and help families process what they are going through with art. One
night a week there is music therapy where kids get to play different instruments
and sing songs. There is a lot of healing in expression therapies because it
helps families to take their minds off of the things that are going on and it
lets kids just be kids for a bit.
In the middle of the house there is a large warming
fireplace. Frequently around the fire place there are puzzles, books, small
toys and coloring things for families to use. Jillian loves it when there are
sticker books around the fire place as they entertain her while we are at
appointments. Also in the great room from time to time there are therapy dogs.
Jillian is allergic to dogs so we stay in different parts of the house when
they are there but I know many children get great joy out of seeing the therapy
dogs.
The house has multiple different kitchen that families can
use. Families are not allowed to have food inside of their rooms so everyone is
assigned fridge and pantry space. There are also general use fridges and
pantries stocked with basic things like milk, jelly, bread ect in case a family
ends up at RMH and is not able to run to the grocery store right away to get
things. At night, there are family dinners and on the weekend there is brunch.
These meals are only provided on days when outside groups come in to make the
meals. These meals are a huge blessing to families. Not having to worry about
cooking a meal takes stress away. It also gets very expensive when you are
living in the hospital because hospital food is expensive especially when you
are having to buy hospital food three times a day. This is a huge cost savings
for us when we are in the hospital. It also gives families time to relax
together. Frequently during dinner you will hear families asking other families
how their day went, how the testing was and how their kid is doing. This is a
time that lets parents vent and also share ideas which can help a child’s
treatment. These meals might seem small but in the reality they are large.
Ronald McDonald House is connected directly to Children’s
Hospital of Wisconsin by a bridge which makes it so convenient. They also have
a van that will transport people back and forth to the hospital which is
helpful on cold days.
Outside of the house is a beautiful garden that is taken
care of by a group of master gardeners. There is also a swing set out there for
kids to play on. It is a very peaceful
and calm area.
At the house there is a wide range of kids there. All
children whose families are staying there must be receiving treatment at a
local children’s hospital. They must also not live close to the hospital their
child is receiving care at. The statistics of who stayed at RMH in 2015 are
that 16% SE Wisconsin, 4% SW Wisconsin, 45% NE WI, 7% Central WI, 3% NE WI, 25%
5outside of WI. The families that are staying at the house are not there for “little”
things. These are kids with complex medical needs. Seeing medical equipment
around RMH is common. From feeding tubes, oxygen, wheelchairs, port lines, to
different orthidic supports. I know it can be scary to see some of these things
but in reality, they are a blessing, they are keeping that child alive. To many
kids their medical equipment is just what it is, Jillian is so non cholent
about her medical equipment, if you ask her why she has oxygen she will matter
of factly tell you it helps her breathe. Many of these kids see these things as their
chance at life and for that they celebrate.
It takes a lot of people to run a house that serves so many
people every day of the year. There are
a few full time staff members that work at RMH but it also takes a lot of volunteers
to make it run. From cleaning around the house, to making meals, and welcoming
families when they arrive, there are always volunteers busy around the house.
Ronald McDonald House’s goal is to keep families close to
their child receiving medical care and they do that but also so much more. I am
so grateful for everything they have done for our family and continue to do for
families like ours. RMH helps to carry the weight of caring for a medically
complex child."
How you can help RMH:
- Donate toys for the magic room. These are toys that's value are typically above $15 (new in package)
- Donate things for in front of the fire place (puzzles, small toys for babies, coloring books, sticker books, small art kits, small card and board games)
- Food for the general use pantry
- Toiletry items
- Serve a meal, there is a calendar on their website of open dates
- Collect pop tabs (a significant portion of their operating funds come from pop tabs)
- volunteer time to help clean around the house
- Help with the lunch 2 go program that makes sandwiches for families to take with them to the hospital
- New stuffed animals
- On their website is a wish list of other things they are needing
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