SickKids Kid Georgia Excited to Begin New Chapter
This September, Georgia will begin a new chapter in her life as a university student. It is a chapter that she didn’t think she would get to experience, and she says that she has SickKids to thank for that.
Georgia became a SickKids patient at the age of 13 when she began experiencing joint pain, unexplained fevers, mouth sores and nodules after a bout with the flu. When her local hospital was unable to diagnose her, she was referred to the Rheumatology Clinic at SickKids. After a biopsy was performed, Georgia was diagnosed with vasculitis, which is an inflammation of the blood vessels.
Georgia’s condition is a challenging and complex one and involves the care of a variety of clinics including haematology, dermatology, neurosurgery and ear, nose and throat. She also receives intravenous immunoglobulin treatments every month.
"Dr. Laxer and his team have gone the extra mile for me"
“My illness would be a lot harder to manage if it weren’t for my team at SickKids,” said Georgia. “Dr. Laxer and his team have gone the extra mile for me. They have never given up on me and have left no stone unturned when it comes to treating me.”
Georgia’s illness provided many bumps in the road and took away a sense of normalcy for her. Appointments, procedures and hospital stays disrupted her school routine and impacted the time she could spend with friends. She also had to stop playing sports, which had been a huge part of her life before she got sick. Despite all the limitations thrown her way, Georgia was determined to not let this get her down. She became focused on school work, which she found not only helped to take her mind off how sick she was feeling but also acted as a type of therapy. Her school work gave her something to strive for and gave her a sense of achievement and accomplishment, something that was hard to find in other areas of her life because she was so unwell.
“The past few years have been far from easy and most of the time I wanted nothing more than to just be a regular teen,” Georgia said. “If it weren’t for the rheumatology team and the world class treatment I’ve received, I can confidently say that I wouldn’t have had the chance to graduate from high school this month with the remainder of my class. Thanks to my SickKids experience, this coming fall I will be going to university to start my nursing degree.”
It is through her experience at SickKids that Georgia’s ambition to become a nurse was sparked.
“I never really knew what I wanted to do ‘when I grew up’ before I got sick. And then I began interacting with nurses all the time at SickKids. It made me realize just how much of an impact a nurse can have on a hospital experience.” It was her 16th birthday, which she spent in hospital, that made her realize just how special it can be to be a nurse at SickKids. The nurses on 4C wrote her a card, gave her a bag of gifts and invited a group of her ten closest girlfriends to come and surprise her. They turned a tough day for Georgia into one of her favourite memories.
“My nurses became part of my family,” said Georgia. “They not only took interest in me medically, but also as a whole person. They have watched me grow up through my teen years and have taught me a lot of valuable lessons about how to be a good self-advocate and be pro-active about my medical care. It would be an honour for me to help deliver that level of care to other kids one day.”
Georgia is excited for this next chapter in her life. High school was a struggle for her and she sees her acceptance to university as being a fresh start. She is also extremely excited to be studying something that she has such a personal connection to.
“My dream is to one day work as a nurse at SickKids, so that I can give other children like me the chance to experience the unmatched care and compassion I have received.”
