CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Father's Day is all about appreciating everything dads do for their families.
For some kids, they end up having extended stays at hospitals and can not leave to celebrate with their dad. 3NEWS spoke with a father, who is also a doctor at Driscoll Children's Hospital.
Dr. Eric Wait, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, has worked at Driscoll for three years and said some kids need extended stays for spine surgery, staying for about a week. He said kids will color and make gifts for their dads when they are there on Father's Day.
"It's always fun when you see the kids that have been here for a long time and something special like that happens and they get to do something like that for their dad," Dr. Wait said.
Other kids hospitalized for different reasons can be there for months. Dr. Wait said when kids get support from their families, it can help prevent depression and aid recovery.
"Bad moods even can raise certain levels of certain stress hormones and then the parents being there and the dads being there can decrease those levels, which can make their healing better and quicker," Dr. Wait said.
Dr. Wait said Driscoll has experience helping kids celebrate holidays while they are there. By showing appreciation to their fathers when they visit, he said it can benefit kids emotionally while they overcome injuries and illnesses.
"The adversity and the trails that they go through is just a way for them to show how much they care, both, both ways. The dads show how much they care, and the kids can show how much they appreciate their dads being there," Dr. Wait explained.
Despite working on the holiday, Dr. Wait said he can help kids at work and then celebrate with his kids when he gets home. He said he treats every patient as if they were one of his two daughters.
"The dads recognize that," Dr. Wait said. "It can kind of feel it in the handshake whenever we discuss the plan, that the sort of exchange of ideas is going on that, ok, this guy gets it, he's a dad, he knows my expectations."
Dr. Wait said the best part of his day is how excited his kids are seeing him when he gets home.
He added that appreciating fathers today is important and stresses the need for fathers to be home and taking care of their kids, giving them an advantage in their lives.
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