As one of the bloggers behind The One Dollar Give, it’s my privilege to introduce a second charity to you this December. We had just a couple of open spots for the month left, and I figured Christmas Day would be a slow traffic day, so I scheduled the rest of the month before today, which left it open. I’ve been trying to decide which organization I would introduce you to for a couple of weeks, but this week Children’s National Medical Center (known as Children’s Hospital locally) touched our lives, and I want to introduce them to you as a way to give back in a small way.

(This story is too long to share in its entirety here at The One Dollar Give, but I did share more details at my other blog, Doodles’ Place, if you want to hear more.)

Over the weekend, we began noticing excessive and unexplained bruising on our 15 month old – including a large bruise on her face that just kept getting worse even though the initial fall had not seemed that bad. Her legs looked like she’d been through war, and since I am home with my girls literally 24 hours a day, I knew that they were not being caused by another person.

By Monday morning Baby Girl had petichiae (tiny red dots under the skin caused by blood vessels bursting) spreading across her legs as well, and I made an appointment to take her to the doctor’s that afternoon.

We were immediately sent for STAT blood tests at the local hospital and then we headed back to our doctor’s office to wait for the results – knowing that leukemia and meningitis were both possible diagnoses.

When we finally received our results back, our pediatrician quickly explained that her tests did not point to either of those diseases (praise the Lord!) but that she was most likely dealing with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a condition in which the body begins producing antibodies that attack and kill the platelets. It was most likely triggered by the stomach flu she had a couple of weeks earlier, but her body was still fighting a virus that was no longer there. As of Monday, her platelet count had reached dangerous levels of 12,000 platelets per liter (normal is 150,000+), which is why she was bruising so easily.

Our pediatrician made an appointment for us at the blood disorders clinic at Children’s National Medical Center for Tuesday morning at 8am so that we could recheck her blood levels and decide about treatment.

To make a long story short, by Tuesday morning her platelet count was out of the critical zone, at 20,000 platelets per liter, and while we will need to continue weekly blood tests to be sure they reach normal levels and also be extra cautious to avoid injuries that could cause brain injuries or other internal bleeding, she did not need any treatment and will most likely make a full recovery within 6 months. Although it was a nervewracking few days, I know what the other possibilities were, and I could not be happier with these results.

While we were at Children’s Hospital, we were beyond impressed with the facilities as well as the staff and doctors we met. If my children ever need that level of medical care again, I hope that Children’s Hospital is where we are sent.

The hospital is beautiful, with cheery, bright colors everywhere, hot air balloons floating in the lobby, children’s artwork decorating the walls and toys around every corner. Throughout the hospital, plain ceiling tiles have been replaced with bright pictures and etches of “Dr. Bear”, and while these didn’t catch Baby Girl’s attention until the end, she was so cute trying to look at and get to them. They have a dedicated art room for the children, and when we were there, there were at least a dozen kids crafting, painting and laughing under the supervision of three “art teachers”.

Everyone we talked to was kind and caring, and you would have thought that our Baby Girl was the only baby in the hospital – which she was obviously not – by the attention they gave her.

When we returned back from her blood tests to our exam room, there was a box with a brand new set of twin baby dolls waiting for her, and the nurses gathered around to see her reaction as she tried to climb out of my arms to get to them. We can afford toys, and we have lots of them, but the thoughtfulness of the nurses who just wanted to brighten my girl’s day in the midst of a scary experience still brings me to tears.

I saw many, many sick children that day who had received much worse diagnoses than ITP, and my heart broke for them and their families. But I am thankful that each of them is receiving care at Children’s, where I have full confidence that the doctors are committed to providing not only the best medical care but also caring and comfort to these children.

I hope you’ll consider $1 today to help them continue the work their doing!

To donate $1 to Children’s National Medical Center, click here. Please use “One Dollar Give” in the dedication portion of the donation form. After you’ve donated, come back and vote in the poll so that we can count donations!

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(Yes, the poll offers you the choice between “Yes.” and “Yes.” because I didn’t think we really needed to count the “No” answers, and the poll required two choices! Hey, it’s not a perfect system, but it’ll work!)