Words cannot express the gratitude my husband, Sean and I have for UC Davis Children’s Hospital. Our daughter Jordyn (11) was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 7. There have been ups and downs in the past four years, but nothing like this recent event. Unfortunately, our daughter Jordyn had an unforeseen event related to her diagnosis.

At 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 31, right before Jordyn went to bed, something shifted. She was in 10/10 pain with some significant GI symptoms, symptoms we had never experienced. I found myself driving to our UC Davis hospital faster than I should have to get our daughter help.

We got to the Emergency Department. Things were busy. Jordyn was so uncomfortable and in distress. The team got us triaged and back in an Emergency Department room ASAP.

The children’s hospital was full, but that didn’t change the care we received. Our exceptional GI doctor, Dr. Haas, was on call and came down to the emergency room early that next morning to assess Jordyn. After her evaluation, she made the determination Jordyn needed to be admitted. While we were not excited about the fact we were being admitted to the hospital, we knew she was where she needed to be.

Later that next day, we made our way up to Davis 7. Throughout our stay, RNs Lauren, Nicole, Lyndsay and Taylor were amazing! So attentive to Jordyn and her needs. While we knew the unit was full, they made us feel like we were the only family, ensuring we had whatever we needed.

The greatness didn’t stop there. Child life specialist Alex welcomed us to the unit, providing projects, movies and games to help pass the time. The next morning, Alex hosted a Zoom Bingo session. Jordyn got a Bingo win and that came with an awesome Minecraft Lego set. That was one of the first smiles I had seen in days. Next on deck was Jenn. She had a fantastic Zoom art session. The day ended up with Tori coming to the room and having a wonderful 1:1 music therapy session. It was not only therapeutic for Jordyn but mom and dad!

Jordyn received treatment for her situation and was able to be discharged late Thursday evening. We are extremely grateful for each and every person who provided us support during this stressful time.

While we are extremely grateful for those mentioned above, we would be remiss if we didn’t share how amazing nursing supervisors Dana and Leslie were. Your advocacy was greatly appreciated!

Jennifer Erickson, you and your patient flow teams’ thoughtfulness brought a smile to Jordyn’s face.

Executive chef Diaz, your “good food is good medicine” was apparent. You were constantly checking on us, waiting for the diet order to change to something she would like. You took time out of your very busy day Thursday evening to deliver fresh watermelon from a local farm to Jordyn in her room as her first PO snack in two days.

Words cannot begin to express how honored and humbled I am to be part of such a wonderful health care organization. Thank you doesn’t feel like enough. Please know we are extremely grateful for each of you!

With extreme gratitude,

Ann and Sean Tompkins (Jordyn’s parents)