Growing up in the face of illness with varying lengths of stay in hospital requires a good deal of resilience, as demonstrated by the Teen Hospital series available on the Vrai platform.
At 11, Justine is the youngest of the group we follow in this eight-part documentary series. When she was born she wasn’t breathing well and the doctors had to give her a tracheotomy. “I’ve had it ever since,” she explains. There are things I can’t do, but I still go to a special class at school. I have a room equipped for my care and for emergencies.
Even if she goes to the hospital regularly or stays there for a virus or pneumonia, she sees herself as the others. “I feel like my friends. When I was younger I was more limited, I could do fewer things on my own. As I get older I can do things by myself like go shopping or visit my friends. When I was younger, my parents always had to be with me. It is certain that maybe I am more mature because I have experienced more difficult things. I’m more responsible.”
For about a year she has had a friend, Mila, who also stars in the series. “I knew her before, my mother worked for her. Since she had a diagnosis, it helps to talk about what we’re going through and make ourselves understood. Having a friend who knows what it’s like to be in the hospital often helps with morale.”
another reality
At 15, Marceline has a special attitude towards life. She suffered from polycystic kidney disease and had a kidney transplant, but when the surgery was successful, complications forced doctors to remove the kidney. She spent a long time in the hospital during this time. “I found it difficult because I wasn’t really living my life. In the hospital you don’t go to school, you don’t have any activities, you don’t go out at night. I’m also very outgoing, I talk to everyone and I missed being able to talk to people.
She knows that keeping friends isn’t always easy when you’re often absent from school. “We have our phones, communication is easier on this side, but I’ve lost a lot of friends because I’m less available and less present.”
Ever since she was a child, Marceline has been more imaginative. She was diagnosed at the age of 5, and then she started going to the hospital, being involved with adults and taking care of her health. However, she claims to be a teenager like the others, despite the context. “There’s nothing stopping me from being a teenager. I’m more mature because what I’ve been through is another life experience and there are situations that I will understand better.”
The illness also changed his dreams. “I used to want to go dancing on Broadway. But I’ve totally changed. Now I want to be a nurse. During my last hospital stay on my floor, the nurses were happy every morning. It touched me and I want to do the same. I always had to move to be in action, it’s a job that could fulfill me.
Adolescents are not abandoned by the school environment when they have different lengths of stay in hospital. Teachers who work in the hospital connect with the team at the school the young people come from. They are the ones who, together with the team of doctors treating them, promote learning with the young people. The learning speed may be slower, but the teachers adapt to the health status. Young people usually have little catching up to do when they return to school, at least they are not completely lost.
The eight episodes of The Teen Hospital documentary series are already available on the Vrai platform.