Starship
Sometimes children need to go to hospital for special care. Starship Hospital is a place where children with heart conditions can be helped. This page will help answer some questions you may have about being in Starship Hospital - if you have any questions just ask; we like questions and will try to answer them.
It helps to talk to your family about why you need to go to hospital. It's a good idea to bring some favourite things from home - a special toy or book, a photo of your family and your own pyjamas. Many things in hospital will be new and interesting. Some may be strange or scary. This page will help you learn about what will happen. The people who take care of you will usually tell you what they are going to do and you can ask them any questions you like.
When you come to hospital you will be given a wrist band with your name on it. This is so that everyone will know who you are. Nurses and doctors may need to do some special checks. Ask the nurses and doctors to tell you anything you don't understand. You will be shown your room on the ward. You may have to share a room with other children. Someone from your family can stay with you while you are in hospital. Some of your family may stay at He Kamaka Oranga Marae and now there is also Ronald McDonald House which are both located on the hospital grounds.
When you come to Starship Hospital a nurse will need to obtain some information about you. The nurse will weigh and measure you, you will have your temperature recorded and some other checks that will not hurt you. You may feel worried about these things because they seem strange. It helps to remember that they need to be done so we can find the best way to help you.
You might need a blood test. By collecting some of your blood doctors can find out what is happening inside your body and how best to help you. Remember that your body makes more blood so you will always have enough. This test may hurt a little, and it's OK to say OUCH, or cry, or hold somebody's hand. There is a special cream that can be used to make your skin feel numb.
One or more doctors will examine you. A stethoscope will be used to listen to your heart and lungs and a special torch will be used to look at your throat and ears. The doctors may also need to feel the pulses in your arms and legs.
Your doctor may want to take a special picture of the inside of your body. This is called an x-ray. The x-ray machine is a big camera that does not touch you and will not hurt. You must keep your body still so that the pictures will be clear. Other special tests to see what is happening inside your body are called an Echocardiogram and an ECG. These tests tell us more about your heart and how we can help you best.
You will meet many new people who will help take care of you. A physiotherapist may help you to do some special exercises. The anaesthetist is a doctor who will explain to your family how you will be given the special sleeping medicine called anaesthetic, if you are going to need it. The play specialist will help you understand what is going to happen and make sure you have plenty of things to play with.
We have a school room and a teacher at Starship Hospital. If you go to school the teacher will visit you and help you with your work. When you are well enough you can go to the school room.
If you need an operation, or a cardiac catheterisation, you will not be allowed to eat or drink anything for a few hours beforehand. Your nurse will tell you when you must stop eating and drinking. Your nurse will give you a sign to wear that says "I must not eat or drink". After your operation your nurse will tell you when it's all right to eat and drink again.
Sometimes you may need a special test called a catheterisation. The play specialist or your nurse will tell you more about this. You will have a special medicine called anaesthetic to keep you asleep during the test. Doctors and nurses will be with you when you wake up in the recovery room or on the ward.
Some children need to be given medicine through an IV drip ("intra-venous"). This is a special way to give medicine and fluid. It's sometimes called a "drip" because the liquid drips slowly through it. An IV is a little plastic tube which is placed in your hand, arm or neck and joined to an upside down bag hanging from a stand. The tube is put in with a needle and then the needle is removed. It may hurt a little to start with but it will soon feel better. You can move about when you have an IV, but remember to always stay close to your IV machine.
Before your operation you will be given a pre-medication which is a special medicine that will make you feel sleepy. When it's time for your operation somebody from your family, a nurse and an orderly will take you on a bed to the operating theatre. People working in the operating theatre will be wearing special clothes. In the theatre you will be given the special sleeping medicine called anaesthetic - this can be given by injection or through a mask. The anaesthetic will keep you asleep during the operation so you won't feel anything. The doctor will wake you only when the operation is over. Doctors and nurses will be with you all the time. When the operation is over you will wake up either in the intensive care room, the recovery room or your hospital room and your family can be with you. You may feel sleepy and sore afterwards The nurses will make you as comfortable as possible with medicine to take the hurt away.
After being in the intensive care room you will taken back to the ward. When you feel well enough you can go back to the playroom and school. The play specialist and teacher will check that you have plenty of things to do if you need to stay in your room for a day or two.
While you are in hospital you will have lots of feelings. It may be an exciting adventure, or you may feel lonely, bored, angry, sad or scared. It helps to talk about how you feel with your family or with other people at the hospital, such as the social worker.
The doctors and nurses will tell you when you are well enough to go home. When you go home you can tell your friends and family about what happened. You might like to play doctors and nurses, or to make your own book about your hospital stay.