My Double Graduation
This fall, Emma will reach two big milestones in her life: attending university and graduating from SickKids. As Emma looks forward to a new chapter in her life, she looks back on her SickKids experience and shares what excites her about her future.GUEST BLOG: SickKids kid Emma
As a preemie, born at 25 weeks, my story is nothing to sneeze at. Literally. My mom had pneumonia in the adult ICU in October of 2000, and I popped out with a cough and sneeze. I was transferred to another hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and was nasally intubated to keep my tiny body alive.
My SickKids journey began at the age of six, when I went into the care of Dr. James Rutka after discovering an odd bump on my head. Diagnosed as a dermoid cyst (a tumour made of skin, hair, teeth), the benign tumour was removed successfully in March of that year, but returned a year and a half later.
After the second surgery, my parents felt the scar didn’t heal as nicely as it did the first time, and we were set up with Dr. John Phillips for a scar revision through the plastics department at SickKids. After the surgery, the one question my nine-year-old self had for Dr. Phillips was, “You’re a plastics guy, right? Can you do something about my nose?” He looked at my parents, and probably stifled a chuckle at my question, as he replied, “Come back when you’re a little older. Then, we’ll talk.”
In June 2016, and again in 2017, Dr. Phillips performed a two-part Batten graft to even out my nostrils, which had collapsed as a result of the breathing tubes I had when I was born. My recovery from the second surgery was a little more rocky, and by the time August rolled around, I began to notice that my nose whistled with every breath I took. Dr. Phillips explained there was a rare complication where the septal wall in my nose had weakened and torn. To fix that, I was introduced to Dr. Evan Propst. In January of this year, I had my first surgery to try to fix the hole in my nose. After a number of complications, we tried again in June. This time, Dr. Propst decided to take a full-thickness skin graft from behind my left ear to cover the hole. The surgery went well, as did the first few days of healing.
Three days later, after I had been discharged, I was back at SickKids as my ear had turned red, was starting to swell and was quite painful. I was diagnosed with perichondritis, an ear infection that affects the cartilage where the graft had been taken.
After a number of hospital stays and return visits, the teams from Infectious Diseases (ID), ENT, Rheumatology, Acute Pain Services, Paediatrics, and Thrombosis got me to a point where I was healthy enough to go home.
"I don’t feel there are truly enough words in the English language to express how much gratitude I have for this hospital for seeing me through to becoming the young lady I am today."
My entire time in the hospital this June and July, I was focused on three things. One: recovering. Two: how happy I was that I had my high school graduation in April and I only had one more credit I had to get over the summer. Three: I can’t wait to go to university.
It’s weird to think of myself as a double graduate, as I’m finding it hard to believe that I’m moving on from a wonderful hospital where absolutely everyone is so amazing. I’m slightly envious of those starting their journeys at SickKids. My words of wisdom? It’ll go fast, and some parts won’t be as easy, but the people you meet will be amazing. Don’t be afraid to ask about what’s going on, or if you feel you want to do more to help yourself or others. This is advice I will also be following as I embark on my journey through post-secondary education.
In September, I will be moving to Niagara Falls to start a six year Concurrent Education program at Brock University. I am so excited to get into my top school choice to learn how to teach intermediate and senior grades the subjects of History, English and Biology. Becoming a teacher has been a goal of mine for quite some time, and I’m looking forward to making an impact on the lives of others.
As I move on, I would love to thank everyone at SickKids. I don’t feel there are truly enough words in the English language to express how much gratitude I have for this hospital for seeing me through to becoming the young lady I am today.
As most simply as I can put this, thank you.
