Mother and Son Thank Hospital’s PICU Team for Memorable Care

Some experiences stay with us for a lifetime. That’s why, even 23 years after Jen Burkhart’s son, David, received care in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), she still keeps March 2 close to her heart. David was just a baby when he was admitted to the hospital for RSV complications.

This March 2023, Jen and David visited ProMedica Russell J. Ebeid Children’s (formerly Toledo Children’s Hospital) with gifts for the PICU staff. It was a generous way to celebrate David and express gratitude to the current PICU care team.

Here is Jen’s story, in her own words.

Celebrating My Son

Hello, my name is Jen Burkhart and I am David’s mother. He got RSV in the beginning of March and was life flighted to Toledo Children’s Hospital because our doctor believed it to be just a cold and then an ear infection. He spent 10 long days in the PICU. We also had our oldest son, who was two years old, at home and was sick also. My wonderful husband drove us 1.5 hours daily back and forth from our hometown of Napoleon.

It was the hardest thing we’d ever been through as parents, yet I felt God helping us get through this together. I was so glad to have the support of the doctors and nurses. I was glad to pump my milk in order to help David get better. As David came off of life support, I was able to breastfeed him again. So, I stayed at the Ronald McDonald House (RMDH) while my husband went home to be with our other son. I remember crying as Ken, my husband, dropped me off and the staff at RMDH was incredibly kind to me.

Because of the care we received at Toledo Children’s Hospital, we didn’t have to worry about the health of our son. Someone finally believed us that our son was sick! The nurses helped me find a better doctor in our area. They watched over us and aided in taking care of our health too when we were emotionally drained. The doctors encouraged me to keep breastfeeding my son to help him become healthy again. I felt like they all treated David as they would’ve treated their own son.

It was a tough decision for the doctors to let David come home because he had lost two pounds when in the hospital. I was ecstatic when he said we could take him home! In one week, he gained two pounds back! We were so very grateful to be able to care for him at home and he thrived. Thankfully, David loves to eat and we made sure he ate nutritious foods as he grew older.

It took time to heal emotionally from this whole ordeal. After a couple of years, I decided to celebrate March 2nd, instead of grieve what we almost lost.  I did activities that celebrated David’s life and the lives of my other two children! I’ve always wanted to give back to the hospital and visit, but raising kids kept us busy.

This year my son David turned 23. I decided I wanted to pamper the doctors, nurses, and all support staff with clean, toxin-free skincare to nourish their hands. I know how hard they work and how many times they wash their hands on a daily basis. So, I made up bags with chocolate and skincare for all sixty of them!! It felt GREAT to give back! I hope they LOVE the items we donated.

In this world we live in, it’s important to be grateful and be a blessing to others. I choose to celebrate this awesome, grown-up kid of mine and thank God for people who put their heart and soul into what they do every day. Thank you PICU staff!!