It really struck a chord with me, too, and before I knew it, the music playing over and over in my head. Remember, this was about the time I started making little movies about Bernie's progress. As much as the music inspires a feeling of hope, our lives were considerably upside down at that point. In addition to her 3 open heart surgeries that year, Bernie fought off C-Diff infections quite a few times in her months at Mott. She was in the midst of recovering from one of several bouts of C-Diff, causing some incredibly fragrant diapers that put her in isolation, when it hit me that "the rewards realized by working together" had a very different meaning. Sanitation was key. The music for the Michigan Difference campaign became the back beat of our gastrointestinal adventure at Mott in 2008. I never really shared this movie with anyone but folks at the hospital since it was kind of an inside joke. But here it is. We hospital parents all have our ways of coping so it just has to be appreciated for what it was.
Fast forward a couple of years later to last February when I first met with the gang from Campbell-Ewald, the advertising agency who handles the University of Michigan Health System Account. They ask me if I have seen any of their ad campaigns. I said that I was unsure if I had or not. They then reveal that they've watched a few of Bernie's movies including "The Michigan C-DIFFerence". The conversation then turned to,"Ohhhhhhh, that's the work you guys do!! I suppose I do know that ad campaign!"
So here we are. The project is "a wrap" and now instead of wondering who all of those incredible people are in that commercial with the infectious tune, I know the stories behind them (and you can, too, by clicking here). I've met a few of the other kids in the ad and certainly know the battle that took our family to those 3 seconds in the commercial. It's not that you can't appreciate the battle on a very personal level when you give your child medicine on a daily basis to keep her alive, but being part of this project and seeing the final product certainly evokes a different sense of awe. To witness the gears of hope, love, medical professional dedication, and medical technology all meshing together to turn the cog of the greater wheel of life for so many beyond yourself is tremendous.
The big new ad campaign launched this week around the hospital. Word is that this photo of Bernie and the lovely Dr. Hirsch are larger than life in "the triangle" connecting Mott with the rest of the UM Hospital. We are excited to see it!
And here's the 30 second commercial version with Bernie:
Needless to say we've watched these clips a few times around our house in the past couple of days. The kids come running when they hear the music. Bernie smiles when she hears it. What made me just about lose it though was watching Bernie watch the commercial and noting her reaction. She doesn't vocalize that she sees herself during her 3 seconds. She simply says, "Nenna" (Jenna), what she calls Dr. Hirsch. She was also quite taken with the boy, Jack, walking on the robotic treadmill. As the last note of that music plays, completely on her own, she takes her arm, raises it in the air, and waves her fist like Jack did in the commercial. I couldn't have said it better myself, Bern. This place of extraordinary children's medicine is definitely a place of extraordinary victories. Hail to that! Go Blue!
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