Watching your child battle a long term, chronic and life threatening illness is something that NO parent should ever have to go through. It's scary for any adult to walk into a doctor's office or hospital with their child and have to sign to let them be tested and poked and examined for days on end. So many times I had to stop and breathe and ask myself, if I'm this scared what must my Michael be
feeling? We, as mom and dad, had NO idea how to explain things to Michael, we didn't know what we were experiencing ourselves, let alone know how to explain it to our son. This is exactly how we learned first hand just how beneficial Child Life therapists can be on the treatment team for our children. They are the ones who don't hurt them, who never examine them and who only bring fun stuff to play with them. They run the playrooms and bring the gaming systems to their hospital rooms and make sure the candy cart is stocked. They throw parties, ensure that when a child goes through a particularly tough appointment there is a reward for them at the end and are the ones who remind them that there is always time for play even in the middle of a very long day at the hospital. They aren't all fun and games though. Child Life therapists provide an exceptional education piece to every child's treatment. They are able to get down to their level and explain things in a way that we, as parents can't because we are so overwhelmed ourselves. They explain things so that the kids understand it in a language that they get, they leave the doctor speak to the doctors and truly take care of the child. It is our plan to help Child Life therapists to instill this education and comfort to children they are helping to treat with an approximately 3 foot tall Mighty Mikey puppet. Mighty MIkey will be given to Child Life Therapy offices in Children's Hospitals and in Medical Centers throughout the United States. The Child LIfe therapists will be able to utilize him in the OR, treatment rooms, scanning rooms and exam rooms. They will be able to share his story and explain things showing the children what part of their body will be in the MRI machine, where the cast will be, show them where a mediport will be placed and even just talk to them and relieve their anxiety a little about an upcoming appointment or their extended hospital stay. Mighty Mikey will not only be shared in the hospital in actual puppet form but he will eventually have his own books and YouTube channel to reach more children and to let them know that they are just as brave and mighty as he always has been. Since we know just how much comfort holding onto something can bring a child going through a medical journey, we didn't want to just let Child Life therapists have all of the fun! We have also created friends for Mighty MIkey, the MIghty Kids. The MIghty Kids are smaller friends that are distributed to the children that Child LIfe is helping to fight these big battles. The Mighty Kids will be there to help comfort the children when they need it the most. When Child Life and Mighty Mikey can't be with them, their Mighty Kid friends can be. The Mighty Kids can stay overnight with their new friends, they can go into the OR with them, go through an MRI machine, be held while their blood is being drawn and, best of all, become a communication piece for children who are non-verbal or who have 'white coat syndrome' and can't or don't want to share where it hurts or what they feel like on their own bodies. If there is one thing that we can be sure of about our Michael, our Mighty Mikey, it is that If there was any way that Michael would want to be here on this Earth after being gone, it would be in puppet form and bringing as much comfort to children who are sick, just like he was, in exactly the same way as Jim Henson's Sesame Street and Muppets characters did for him. Our Mighty Mikey Puppet and his Mighty Kid friends have been designed by the amazing Chefs at Puppet Kitchen Productions, Inc.
