How to Prepare Visitors

Here at the Mighty Lionhearts Headquarters, a.k.a. our home, we are well versed in the art of handling visitors while our son’s immune system was compromised.  We know how difficult it can be to juggle your priorities…you want to keep your kid’s spirits high by having friends and relatives visit, but you also want to keep them safe!  To aid us in our decision making process, we developed a system to answer questions like, “What should we ask people before we allow them to visit?  Once they are here, what precautionary measures should we take to keep our Mighty Lionheart safe?” 

First and foremost, you the Mighty Lionheart Champion, are the gatekeeper to visitors.  You know your Mighty Lionheart best and know who will add value to their situation and who won’t.  Forget all those who will not help your Mighty Lionheart, there is a time to be courteous to “Aunt Debbie Downer”…this is NOT one of those times!  If a person will not lift your Lionheart’s spirits, put a smile on their face, or help in a valuable way, then they do not visit, period.  You do not have the time or energy to waste on them right now, their downer ways will have to wait.  Now is a good time to check with your son’s BMT Attending Doctor (click here for Hierarchy of Doctors explanation) to ensure they can have visitors and what precautions should be taken.

 We instituted the following policies to ensure our Mighty Lionheart was kept as safe as possible while still allowing valuable people to visit and help.  These policies were forged out of years of trials and errors and, although, you will develop your own policies with the help of your doctors, feel free to use these as a starting point.

What should we ask people before we allow them to visit?  Anyone taking offense to these questions should be automatically banned because they clearly do not understand the situation and cannot be trusted to do what is right for your Mighty Lionheart!

1.  The obvious, “Are you sick?  Have you been sick in the last week?”

“Do you have a cough, runny nose, or sore throat?  Have you had any live virus vaccinations to include the flu mist in the last two weeks?”

2.  Have you been around any sick people?  (If the visit is a few days away, ask them to stay away from sick people and if it cannot be helped, no biggie, just delay the visit).

3.  Please change into fresh clean clothes just before heading over?

4.  If they are coming from out of town, let them know that if they get sick while traveling, or while there, they will need to stay at a hotel and won’t be able to visit (be prepared for this).

a.  NOTE:  We mandated folks who traveled on planes (or with a lot of people) stay at a hotel for 24 hours before visiting the house.  This was not based on medical necessity or even fact, but it did make us feel better and let people know the severity of the situation.

5.  Inform your future guests you are a no-shoe household and will be asking them to take off their shoes so plan footwear accordingly.

a.  NOTE:  We are a firm no-shoe household due to the debris collected on the bottom of ones shoe that is then trekked about your house for your child to play in.  And it is a well-documented phenomena that kids love crawling on the ground.

Once they are here, what precautionary measures should we ask them to take to keep our Mighty Lionheart safe?” 

1.   Have them remove their shoes when they come in the front door.

2.   Kindly show them to the bathroom to wash their hands.

a.  Make sure you have anti-bacterial soap and fresh towels for them to dry their hands (we started using disposable hand towels to ensure we didn’t pass anything via our hand towels).

3.   If they are fresh off the road, remind them to change their clothes before beginning your visit.  In some circumstances, a shower may be called for. 

4.   Be vigilant, if someone looks and/or sounds sick, don’t take the chance.  Simply tell them you’re sure it’s nothing but for your kiddo’s sake you can’t take the chance. And once again, if they have any issues with this, they simply do not understand and should not visit.

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ROAR!

Mighty Lionhearts