Last summer, Annie’s son Bodhi had a side pain that wouldn’t go away.
At first, Bodhi’s pain had a reasonable explanation. The family had been at the fair, going on rides and racing through the funhouse. Bodhi bumped into a railing and brushed it off as soreness. Even days later, when his grandma was visiting and cousins were over for a barbecue and football games in the yard, he insisted he felt great. It wasn’t until late that night that Bodhi admitted that he was still in pain.
“He told me, ‘It’s worse. I just didn’t want to ruin grandma’s vacation," Annie recalled. “When he walked down the stairs guarding his side and I took his temperature, it was just over 100. I knew we shouldn’t wait.”
Living in Olympia, Annie and her husband found themselves facing a familiar dilemma many parents know well. Where do you take your child when there is a serious medical situation? “Everyone says, ‘If something’s wrong with your kid, you drive to Tacoma,’” Annie said. “And we were sitting there thinking, ‘Which way do we turn?’”
In the end, they chose the closer option and drove to St. Peter Hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, the staff recognized that Bodhi wasn’t just another patient, he was a child who needed extra reassurance. “They talked to him, explained everything and made sure he felt safe,” said Annie.
From blood draws to imaging, every step was handled with patience and kindness. What could have been frightening became manageable, not just for Bodhi, but for his parents too. “When your kid is scared, everything goes through you,” Annie said. “But they took care of us too.”
Tests confirmed appendicitis, and Bodhi soon headed into surgery. His appendix hadn’t fully ruptured, but it was leaking, requiring careful treatment and several days of IV antibiotics. After surgery, Bodhi was admitted to the pediatric inpatient unit, something Annie hadn’t expected to find so close to home.
During Bodhi’s hospital stay, Annie learned something else that surprised her. Providence Swedish’s close partnership with Seattle Children’s brings specialized pediatric expertise locally at St. Peter, following the same high standards and evidence-based care.
“Our role as pediatric hospitalists in a community hospital setting is to bring specialized, evidence-based pediatric care closer to home for families,” shared Dr. Jenny Tabakin, Seattle Children’s hospitalist. “We care for children from infancy through adolescence with a team approach that emphasizes safety, communication and family-centered care. We value being able to care for a child and their family within the community they live in.”
The support didn’t stop when Bodhi went home. “The very next morning, his primary care doctor called and said, ‘I saw Bodhi was in the hospital, how’s he doing?’” Annie said. A care coordinator call followed, reviewing medications, checking schedules and calling again days later to make sure everything was on track. “They took the emotional burden off me,” Annie said. “I felt fully supported.”
“Our patients and families can expect compassionate support and frequent updates throughout their child’s hospitalization as well as collaboration with their primary doctor and subspecialty services when needed,” added Tabakin.
Looking back, Annie realizes how close she came to driving past a level of care she now fully trusts. “What could have been really traumatic didn’t feel that way at all,” she said. “It felt compassionate, coordinated and human.”
