Parent Blog: Nicole Cisne Durbin

In their own words

Nicole Cisne Durbin 
Rock Island, IL 

On August 1, 2018 Lilah complained of severe stomach pains. We went to our local emergency room and they did a scan and discovered a large mass in her abdomen. They then transported her to the ER at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and we were eventually admitted into University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital on August 2, 2018. Lilah was there for three weeks and had two surgeries. She was diagnosed with a desmoid tumor. 

Joel Shilyansky, MD was our lead surgeon and Chelsea Pangburn, RN, BSN, NCS was our nurse. Lilah had countless amazing nurses on Level 11. 

UI Stead Family Children's Hospital is the best place you never want to be. The child life specialists were phenomenal and a vital part of our team. Lilah loved her nurses so much she cried for two days before she left because she was sad to leave them. We participated in all of the activities they had when Lilah was up for it. She did art and music therapy whenever she could. At the time she was in the hospital, our son was only 5 months old and they were amazing about allowing our whole family to be there with Lilah as much as possible. 

This hospital understands children and their needs, especially in difficult situations such as being sick. It was a long time before we knew Lilah's diagnosis and it wasn't until the second surgery that we found out. We were there for a whole week not knowing what was going to happen because we didn't know what we were dealing with. The nurses were supportive and when I would request to talk to the pediatric surgery team they were responsive.