Brandy
Please Note: The dog in the accompanying photograph is the subject of the story, but the child or teenager pictured is probably not the patient in the story.It was a dark, rainy Thursday night in December, and Brandy and I were headed to Shriner’s Children Hospital. We were going to meet Sharlene for the first weeknight visit at 6:30 PM.
We left my house, near Pico Boulevard and Bundy Drive at 5:30 PM to give us plenty of time to get to the hospital without being late. I decided to take surface streets because I already knew the Santa Monica Freeway was a parking lot. After half an hour, we had gotten only as far as Olympic and La Cienega Boulevards. I was ready to turn around and go home, but our commitment to Love on 4 Paws kept us going. We arrived at Shriner’s about 6:40 PM. I was sure Sharlene would already be there waiting for us, but she was stuck in the same traffic we had experienced and arrived a few minutes later. I kept thinking that driving through rush hour traffic on a weeknight for a hospital visit was too trying and a waste of time; however, once our visit started, my thoughts changed.
Brandy, Sharlene, and I went to the second floor and started to make our rounds. At first nothing unusual happened. I mean the children were happy to see us like always. Then we entered a room where a mother was finishing changing the diaper of her six-month-old daughter. She said she was almost finished and we waited. I noticed the baby had casts on both legs going from her hips to her ankles.
The mother removed her baby from the crib and sat on the floor holding the baby in her lap. As soon as the baby saw Brandy, she smiled and started to coo and make happy baby sounds. Brandy’s tail was wagging from side to side, and she started to lick the baby’s feet. Then the baby started laughing out loud and her mother said, “This is the happiest she’s been since she entered the hospital.”
After a few minutes, we left the baby and continued on our rounds.
We then entered a room with one occupant, a 15 year-old girl. She was sitting in a chair at side of the bed, alone. The room was semi-dark with only one light on above the bed.
As we entered the room, I asked her if she would like to visit with Brandy. Well, as soon as she saw Brandy, she smiled and her eyes lit up light a Christmas tree. (It was close to Christmas … a very hard time to be alone.) She put her arms out to Brandy and Brandy went over, climbed onto her lap, and gave her kisses. The girl was so delighted to have Brandy there. It almost brought tears to my eyes.
When we were finished with our visit with the teenager and our other rounds, I knew that weeknight visits to the hospital were not too trying or a waste of time. Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces had made the trip worthwhile.
Brandy is almost six-years-old now, and she has been visiting schools, hospitals, and senior centers for the past five years. Currently we spend two Sunday’s a month visiting the cancer wards at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. I know the visits have been just as rewarding for Brandy and me as for the children. Love on 4 Paws is wonderful therapy for everyone involved.
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