As the director of MultiCare\u2019s Patient Financial Navigation Department, Amy Bond and her staff regularly work with patients and families in tragic situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my work at MultiCare, I\u2019ve seen everything,\u201d Bond says. \u201cI deal with patients and families in crisis all the time. But none of that prepared me to face my 16-year-old daughter lying in an emergency room bed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In July 2018, Bond received a phone call that no parent is ever prepared for. Her daughter Kalyssa was in the MultiCare Good Samaritan Emergency Department after attempting to take her own life. Bond was in a work meeting at Good Samaritan. Her daughter was just two floors below her.<\/p>\n
Just hours before, Kalyssa was attempting suicide when her dad found her.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a daily basis, I was battling thoughts of self-harm,\u201d Kalyssa says.<\/p>\n
Kalyssa spent almost two days in the emergency department while the family waited for a bed to become available at the MultiCare Tacoma General Adolescent Behavioral Health Unit (ABHU). The ABHU is the first and only inpatient program in Pierce County designed specifically to help teens facing mental health crises.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have several friends who have gone through the ABHU and they told me it helped them,\u201d Kalyssa says, \u201cIt didn\u2019t cure them because no short-term stay will, but it kept them safe in that moment like it did for me, and that\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ABHU treats children ages 13 to 17 for a variety of mental health issues including major depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The ABHU is designed for short stays averaging three to seven days.<\/p>\n
During her stay, the ABHU provided daily check-ins and therapeutic activities for Kalyssa that helped her feel safe. They also taught her positive outlets to deal with the intrusive, negative thoughts she deals with daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe help I received at the ABHU was amazing because they were always there,\u201d Kalyssa says. \u201cWhether it was a therapist or someone else to talk to, being able to share how I was feeling was really helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the next four to five months following her first ABHU visit, the family was on \u201csuicide watch.\u201d Despite multiple medications, therapy and various outpatient treatments, Kalyssa attempted to take her life again in December 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll you want is to protect and shield your children,\u201d Bond says. \u201cProtecting my daughter from external dangers was much different than figuring out how to protect her from herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalyssa was admitted to the ABHU following her second suicide attempt. During her second ABHU stay, staff worked with the family to identify a long-term inpatient facility that would fit Kalyssa\u2019s specific needs. She spent five weeks in that program learning dialectical behavioral therapies \u2014 a type of therapy aimed at changing negative thinking patterns. Kalyssa has a handful that she knows by heart and continues to use to cope.<\/p>\n
\u201cMultiCare Tacoma General and Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Hospital saved my daughter\u2019s life, twice,\u201d Bond says. \u201cFrom my executive leadership team, to the staff, emergency rooms, doctors and social workers who worked with Kalyssa and the ABHU team. I am proud to work for such an amazing organization. I have never felt so supported, as a staff member or as the mother of a patient as I have this past year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Living with a behavioral health issue is a lifelong challenge, but as Kalyssa puts it, \u201cevery day is healing.\u201d She is making progress and is in her senior year of high school. Her experience is leading her toward a career in the medical field where she can travel the world helping others.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy experiences in these facilities forced me to change my mindset,\u201d Kalyssa says. \u201cI want people to know that they aren\u2019t alone and that it gets better. I never felt like I had a friend who checked on me and who truly cared, so I\u2019m making sure I am that person for everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bond\u2019s gratitude for her daughter\u2019s recovery motivated her to join Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Festival of Trees this year as a tree designer.<\/p>\n
The theme is inspired by her and Kalyssa\u2019s transformative trips to Africa. The tree is called \u201cAfrica, On Assignment\u201d and will use elements of National Geographic photography and film to tell a story.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very lucky this tree is not in memory of Kalyssa,\u201d Bond says. \u201cWe came extremely close to losing her. Instead, our tree is about hope, adventure and seeing a perspective different than your own. Helping others can help you help yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information about Festival of Trees, visit festivaloftreestacoma.org.<\/p>\n
The MultiCare Behavioral Health Foundation is the first of its kind in Washington to focus exclusively on raising critical funding to support people of all ages receiving behavioral health care treatment and services.<\/p>\n