LilBitKoz is in hospital, I could use some help from anyone who can ,,

[Ms. Toad]

29. I haven't been in that particular hospital -

but my daughter is a $200,000 a year kid (and has been for a decade or so - for the 16 years before that she was "only" a $50-$100,000/year kid). She started with a colonoscopy at age 4. So we're in hospitals quite a bit - and never had any issues with connections. Sometimes they are maddening because they rely on a local router - so I have to log in again when I move 10 feet. But once I get in place, the connection usually holds.

I always use the hospital's wi-fi (I don't have a data plan), so I don't know about cell service. If you haven't tried connecting through their wifi, you might want to try it.

But as to sick kids - We have only once left ours in the hospital by herself once, for about 2 hours (after she'd been trained to speak to doctors and nurses for about 8 years). Her hospitalization coincided with a major event for my spouse - so we got orders there wer not to be any procedures while we were gone and I ducked out long enough to put in a brief appearance.

Fortunately, or not, we're a one-stop-comfort shop. The only time she needs my spouse instead of me is when the procedure is likely to be bloody (stitches, for example). Despite having been present with rape survivors who have been stabbed in the heart, had tendons in their hand cut, etc., I pass out when I see my spouse's or my daughter's blood. Go figure. But my daughter and I are in sync as to her reactions to medical procedures. I know she's absolutely fine for far more than any (then) child should be able to tolerate - she can watch them insert IVs. I've had to fight nurses off who typically come in with three of them who want to hold her down, when she just wants to watch. They don't believe it, until they see it. But once she loses it, she has no more tolerance for anything. I can see that happening before it does - and save a lot of grief (by firing an incompetent phlebotomist, for example, who took one stick too many to find a vein). Life would have been much harder for both my daughter (and the medical staff - more the medical staff) if my spouse had been there for a few of these incidents. So I get the need to have the parent you need with you.

But I also have a very healthy respect for this virus. It's robbing us from so much - and from so much more than it needed to rob us of had we had a competent president.

Good luck!