The Greatest Gift
It all started in August. St. Catharines parents Erin and Nick packed up their kids and camping gear, and were looking forward to a trip filled with family time and s’mores. Little did they know that their lives were about to change.
Erin
“It all began with my wife,” Nick explains. “She started getting sick while we were camping. She was feeling really awful, and then as soon as we got home, our son Eli started showing symptoms as well.”
Eli and Erin were bedridden for days, struggling with a bad cough and fever, and when Erin went to her family doctor, he determined that she had pneumonia. “He prescribed an antibiotic but it just didn’t seem to do anything for her,” Nick explains. “It got to a point where my wife could barely walk without me holding her up. All my instincts were saying that this is not right. Rest and antibiotics were supposed to help but they just weren’t.”
After a few days on the antibiotic, Nick took Erin for her follow-up appointment with their family doctor. “We thought we were going for a quick check-in and then would be headed back home,” he says. “Instead we ended up going from the doctor’s office to the hospital where we didn’t leave until 19 days later.”
When the family doctor realized the antibiotic wasn’t working, he advised a visit to the emergency department to get to the bottom of things. Erin and Nick had to act fast. Thankfully, Nick’s mom stepped in to care for the kids while Nick took his wife to the Marotta Family Hospital in St. Catharines. “At around 3 a.m, it was determined that Erin would have to be admitted,” Nick remembers, “and then my phone rang.”
Eli
It was Nick’s sister calling, letting him know she had stopped by his house. “She is a nurse practitioner and had come to check on our son. She called to say that Eli was not okay. So I went home from the ER, picked up our son, and went back to the ER.” Once they returned to the emergency department, the team ensured that Eli would be helped very quickly. “They were absolutely wonderful. They knew that his mom was already in the back, so before we knew it, he was triaged and assessed and brought to the same room as her. So we got to do the waiting together and that definitely helped both of them.” When Nick realized that Erin and Eli would both have to be admitted, the reality sunk in that they would be on two different floors. “I went upstairs to the pediatric floor with Eli, not sure how we were going to navigate this, and then the hospital did us an unbelievable kindness.”
The emergency department charge nurse, familiar with the family’s situation, understood that the best thing for them was to be together. “So she made a phone call and advocated for Erin to be put in the room next to our son rather than on a different floor,” Nick explains. “And that is what happened. They admitted her to the pediatric floor and put them side by side, so that they could go through everything together, which ended up being a huge gift.”
Fighting pneumonia
“The type of pneumonia they ended up having was a bit of a mystery. It resisted all the normal antibiotic treatments,” Nick explains. “While Eli’s biggest challenge were his fevers, Erin struggled to maintain her oxygen.” As stressful and scary as those days were for the Tenhage family, Nick says that they were touched by the care they received. “Usually going to the hospital is something you dread, but to me, it was a relief. I was so worried about my wife when we were trying to treat her pneumonia at home. I was actually quite scared of being sent back home when we went to the ER. But coming into the hospital, getting such good care in the ER and knowing that she was going to get the proper care now – it was such a weight off our shoulders.”
Oscar
Erin and Eli stayed at the hospital for just over two weeks. “Just as they were starting to get better, our eight-year-old son Oscar decided to get pneumonia as well,” Nick says, still in disbelief that this is something their family had to go through. “Oscar ended up being in for about four or five days past his mom and Eli, so I think it ended up being 19 or 20 days from when we first arrived to when we were able to all be home again.”
Finding Beauty
Throughout their time at the hospital, Nick and Erin tried their best to help their sons navigate their feelings. “We wanted them to see the beautiful moments and appreciate the blessings even in the midst of what was clearly a challenging time.” The amazing care they received and the wonderful support from their family and community made it easy for them to find those beautiful moments, Nick explains. “It was one of those things. You go through something that is scary but it’s also filled with so many moments when I was just thankful and appreciative. It really put things in perspective.”
The Greatest Gift
Today, several months after their stay at the Marotta Family Hospital, their boys are in good health again and Erin’s recovery is on track. ”They said it was going to take two to four months before she would be back to normal and that is proving to be true,” Nick explains, “but she’s almost there.”
Seeing his wife and children receive treatment was eye-opening for Nick. “I had no idea that pediatric care is so different from adult medicine,” he admits. “The resources and tools they need are so different.” Having this kind of specialized care available to their children here in Niagara meant the world to Nick and Erin, and they hope that the community will come together this holiday season to support their important work. “Our kids are one of the most precious things we have. Not just as individuals but as a society, and I think caring for them is one of the biggest responsibilities we have,” he says, adding that donating to the Children’s Health Unit equips the people who care for our children with the tools they need to do their best work.
“It’s not just a gift for the people who work there or just the kids that are being treated and their families. As a society, to give our kids the best that we can really is a gift to all of us.”
For the Tenhages, spending family time together over the holidays will be extra sweet this year, and the amazing team at the Children’s Health Unit will definitely be on their minds. “As awful as this was, I feel like it was a blessing to be able to spend time with such kind and caring people and being able to have them in our lives through this. I left the hospital thinking that I am forever grateful for this place.”
The Greatest Gift
It all started in August. St. Catharines parents Erin and Nick packed up their kids and camping gear, and were looking forward to a trip filled with family time and s’mores. Little did they know that their lives were about to change.
Erin
“It all began with my wife,” Nick explains. “She started getting sick while we were camping. She was feeling really awful, and then as soon as we got home, our son Eli started showing symptoms as well.”
Eli and Erin were bedridden for days, struggling with a bad cough and fever, and when Erin went to her family doctor, he determined that she had pneumonia. “He prescribed an antibiotic but it just didn’t seem to do anything for her,” Nick explains. “It got to a point where my wife could barely walk without me holding her up. All my instincts were saying that this is not right. Rest and antibiotics were supposed to help but they just weren’t.”
After a few days on the antibiotic, Nick took Erin for her follow-up appointment with their family doctor. “We thought we were going for a quick check-in and then would be headed back home,” he says. “Instead we ended up going from the doctor’s office to the hospital where we didn’t leave until 19 days later.”
When the family doctor realized the antibiotic wasn’t working, he advised a visit to the emergency department to get to the bottom of things. Erin and Nick had to act fast. Thankfully, Nick’s mom stepped in to care for the kids while Nick took his wife to the Marotta Family Hospital in St. Catharines. “At around 3 a.m, it was determined that Erin would have to be admitted,” Nick remembers, “and then my phone rang.”
Eli
It was Nick’s sister calling, letting him know she had stopped by his house. “She is a nurse practitioner and had come to check on our son. She called to say that Eli was not okay. So I went home from the ER, picked up our son, and went back to the ER.” Once they returned to the emergency department, the team ensured that Eli would be helped very quickly. “They were absolutely wonderful. They knew that his mom was already in the back, so before we knew it, he was triaged and assessed and brought to the same room as her. So we got to do the waiting together and that definitely helped both of them.” When Nick realized that Erin and Eli would both have to be admitted, the reality sunk in that they would be on two different floors. “I went upstairs to the pediatric floor with Eli, not sure how we were going to navigate this, and then the hospital did us an unbelievable kindness.”
The emergency department charge nurse, familiar with the family’s situation, understood that the best thing for them was to be together. “So she made a phone call and advocated for Erin to be put in the room next to our son rather than on a different floor,” Nick explains. “And that is what happened. They admitted her to the pediatric floor and put them side by side, so that they could go through everything together, which ended up being a huge gift.”
Fighting pneumonia
“The type of pneumonia they ended up having was a bit of a mystery. It resisted all the normal antibiotic treatments,” Nick explains. “While Eli’s biggest challenge were his fevers, Erin struggled to maintain her oxygen.” As stressful and scary as those days were for the Tenhage family, Nick says that they were touched by the care they received. “Usually going to the hospital is something you dread, but to me, it was a relief. I was so worried about my wife when we were trying to treat her pneumonia at home. I was actually quite scared of being sent back home when we went to the ER. But coming into the hospital, getting such good care in the ER and knowing that she was going to get the proper care now – it was such a weight off our shoulders.”
Oscar
Erin and Eli stayed at the hospital for just over two weeks. “Just as they were starting to get better, our eight-year-old son Oscar decided to get pneumonia as well,” Nick says, still in disbelief that this is something their family had to go through. “Oscar ended up being in for about four or five days past his mom and Eli, so I think it ended up being 19 or 20 days from when we first arrived to when we were able to all be home again.”
Finding Beauty
Throughout their time at the hospital, Nick and Erin tried their best to help their sons navigate their feelings. “We wanted them to see the beautiful moments and appreciate the blessings even in the midst of what was clearly a challenging time.” The amazing care they received and the wonderful support from their family and community made it easy for them to find those beautiful moments, Nick explains. “It was one of those things. You go through something that is scary but it’s also filled with so many moments when I was just thankful and appreciative. It really put things in perspective.”
The Greatest Gift
Today, several months after their stay at the Marotta Family Hospital, their boys are in good health again and Erin’s recovery is on track. ”They said it was going to take two to four months before she would be back to normal and that is proving to be true,” Nick explains, “but she’s almost there.”
Seeing his wife and children receive treatment was eye-opening for Nick. “I had no idea that pediatric care is so different from adult medicine,” he admits. “The resources and tools they need are so different.” Having this kind of specialized care available to their children here in Niagara meant the world to Nick and Erin, and they hope that the community will come together this holiday season to support their important work. “Our kids are one of the most precious things we have. Not just as individuals but as a society, and I think caring for them is one of the biggest responsibilities we have,” he says, adding that donating to the Children’s Health Unit equips the people who care for our children with the tools they need to do their best work.
“It’s not just a gift for the people who work there or just the kids that are being treated and their families. As a society, to give our kids the best that we can really is a gift to all of us.”
For the Tenhages, spending family time together over the holidays will be extra sweet this year, and the amazing team at the Children’s Health Unit will definitely be on their minds. “As awful as this was, I feel like it was a blessing to be able to spend time with such kind and caring people and being able to have them in our lives through this. I left the hospital thinking that I am forever grateful for this place.”
