Duke’s ICN team has an award that they give out … it’s associated with an “extra effort” event that someone witnesses of another employee and then “reports” to the “extra effort” people … whomever that is. 🙂
In any case, yesterday, I had the misfortune of photographing one of a set twins (again — I seem to get these all the time). These babies were 33 weeks, which is normally just fine, but one died in utero and the other was delivered in a crash c-section to save his life. Evan is not Owen’s angel and I was there to see them together for the first and last time. To see Mom and Dad hang tough through the experience and to provide a bit of comic relief when my new-old cell phone rang to the sound of a cat meow. 🙄
It was a TOUGH session … not emotionally, but from a stomach perspective.
Skip to the next paragraph if you have a weak stomach …
So this baby died in utero a couple days ago. When that happens, all the fluid inside the womb seeps into the baby and makes them very soggy. Soggy translates to skin tearing. I had to be very careful not to tear his skin further as I worked with him. Marie (our wonderful Duke nurse/contact) told me today (after the fact) that she was so impressed with me that I treated this baby with such kindness and like a human. I handled him as if his skin was perfect and not half on and half off. I told her I just focused and treated him like his family did. But, now, looking at the images, I’m having a harder time with them. 🙁 I’ll get through it.
Ok, back to good stuff…
The award was not actually attributed to this session, but a previous session. One of the nurses that I worked with then, apparently, asked Duke if they could put ME in for the “extra effort award” and the team completely agreed, despite my not being an employee of Duke! They thought that much of me to include me in their personal/team/Medical Center based awards.
I was REALLY floored by this. It’s not a big prize … 4 movie tickets, a lunch box and a parking pass. 😀 But hey … that’s two movies for Ron and I without paying! 😉 To me it was SUCH an amazing honor to be recognized like this.
Marie asked me today how I can make so much time for this when others’ tend to put themselves first. I’ve reminded her each time that the more I give, the more I get and this is *my* cause. It’s my “destiny” or whatever you want to call it. It’s my giving back. Every time I get a call/email indicating we have another baby who has made his/her way to heaven I think about my own babies, just 3 years ago, who, without such amazing Drs. could have been in the same position. Most don’t know how close we came to losing Emi (20/20 hindsight).
And, my faith has a lot to do with it too. 🙂
In any case, the nurses honored me, on paper, in an official capacity and the Duke staff saw no reason not to. We photographers are a part of their lives, unfortunately, we are there during some of the most horrible times, but work to provide that little bit of healing after the fact.