The Hicks Family

“When you go through a medical situation with your child it becomes a very lonely world as you lose most of your friends and family and people start to back away because your whole world becomes revolves around medical everything”

“Before coming to RMHC-SK I remember feeling so lost and terrified, as my future, as a mom, seemed pretty clear to me before the start of the hospital visits and 911 calls. When we arrived I was terrified as I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t need any more stress than I was already dealing with. I was already figuring out what I needed to get from the grocery store for my 3 children and myself. I was trying to figure out what I needed to make it more comfortable and to have my other 2 children be okay as well. This was a visit with our Neurologist but I didn’t even know what that meant, all I knew was that on Christmas Day my daughter was having seizures and by New Year’s Eve my daughter had a stroke, she was only 14 months at the time.

Everything I knew about life flew out the window and this huge overwhelming feeling of having this information thrown at me was almost too much to bear and understand… the medical terms and doctors, specialists, effects on my daughter and everything. This is what my life had become in a few short weeks. When they brought me around the home and gave us a tour I remember seeing other parents and their families and feeling the warmth and the peacefulness that it all brought to me. My kids were in awe of everything that RMHC-SK had available to us. They had thought of everything. If you were to ask my 2 non-medical children their favourite part about the first tour, I can almost guarantee it would be the playroom, and game room and they get to go to the gift room when they leave! For myself, it was the endless coffee, open community pantry, baked goods, suppers to not have to worry about, the breakfast served, the staff and volunteers, and my favourite part of it all… being in a home with others who just get it. We don’t have to hear each other’s stories, but we understand one another and we just get it.

When you go through a medical situation with your child it becomes a very lonely world as you lose most of your friends and family and people start to back away because your whole world becomes revolves around medical everything. But… at the RMHC-SK, you finally don’t feel alone! You finally feel like you are home.

During our stay at RMHC- SK we have had many ups and downs… some of these include the time I was there with all three of my children and I was awaiting a room at the hospital since they were overflowed and there was nothing available we needed a specific room, my daughter was having over 90 seizures and the staff knew this and they helped me with my boys. They took my other 2 children and fed them, hung out with them and brought some toys into the room for them to play with, also a staff member brought me a coffee and a bagel as I hadn’t eaten as I couldn’t leave the room. I had called my children’s dad to leave work and come and help and he did, but until he got there the staff were the extra people in my village I needed.

The other time, I was by myself with my 3 children again going for some appointments and checkups for my daughter. I had one more load to take up to the room and I ended up slipping off the back of my truck and landing on it wrong. I ended up spraining my ankle. There were staff that ran to me and a parent ran to me. They stuck me in a wheelchair, and staff went to my room where my oldest was watching his brother and sister so I could bring the stuff in, they played with them and hung out in the room, they brought the last load in and we made a makeshift bandage. It was quite funny but the staff and other parents were so amazing and so helpful! We had to stay in the hospital during Christmas of 2023 for a week-long EEG so we were at RMHC-SK for about 3 weeks. During this time I had many mental breakdowns as I just wanted to be home, I just wanted to have my daughter well and safe and I just wanted to be free of all of this. Some personal things were going on as well as all the medical stuff and I just needed someone to talk to so a staff member hung out with my kids and helped my children’s dad out while I just sat there and pretty much cried and talked about things in my life going on and how hard this was. I had absolutely no money, I didn’t know how I was getting back home and I had nothing planned out, all I was doing was surviving and trying to get help for my daughter to stay alive.

Now that I have stayed at RMHC-SK and I still frequently stay there I would tell others who are just starting out or even others who haven’t heard about this amazing place that this is the haven we have needed as medical parents. This is the safest place for you to be during the most difficult times of your lives. It gives you hope and that sense of belonging feeling that you’re not alone. Just like it has become mine and my family it will become your Home Away from Home as well! Through these dark times, it’s a reminder to us that it’s okay and there are people out there who do care and who are there to support us in any way we need. Strangers with huge hearts willing to help us along the most difficult path we will ever take as a parent! We are actually going there this month again and my children all feel so welcome and so happy when we are here even when we are going through the worst times of our lives, it’s our second Home now and it will always have a huge place in my heart!

“…the staff were the extra people in my village I needed.”

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