new to group/question about drawing blood from a terrified child

[Guest guest]

Hello.

We are new to this group. My wife Diane and I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee

with our eight year old son Jimmy. Jimmy's diagnosis is " atypical " autism. We

will see Dr. Goldberg for the first time in March.

Jimmy has had his blood drawn only once since he was an infant. It was a

traumatic event for all concerned. It took four adults to hold him down, and

he screamed at the top of his lungs and cried " Mommy, please help me. Please,

Mommy, please. They're hurting me " the entire time. Needless to say, we were

all basket cases by the time everything was over. Jimmy still talks about the

event (from last summer), so we know he still is traumatized by it.

Does anyone have any ideas for how to lessen my son's terror? Our pediatrician

has offered us Xanax for a one-time blood drawing. Does anyone have any

experience with Xanax for severe anxiety like this?

Thanks in advance.Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download :

http://explorer.msn.com

[Guest guest]

Bill,

We've similar experiences with blood draws...four people holding our son

down. Please consider using prescription Emla Cream or something similar.

It is a numbing lotion that must be put on 30-45 minutes prior to the blood

draw. My son had the blood drawn for his initial visit to Dr. G this way.

He sat on the table, terrified and said " Tell me when you're going to put

the needle in!'. The nurse calmly replied... " It's already in, honey. " He

didn't feel a thing and sat there for 5 minutes or so until they were

finished. It was wonderful!

One drawback for our son was that the Emla did sting (quite a bit) until the

skin was numbed, but our son said that he preferred feeling the sting to

feeling the " stick " .

When we went to UCLA for the NeuroSPECT scan, we used the Emla once again

(for the dye injection) with great results. Carmen (who does the scan) said

that she wished the parents could all be told about it because it helps make

the experience much less traumatic for the children.

The first time we used Emla, the nurse applied it at our pediatrician's

office...if you don't get enough on or put it on the right spot, it's

useless. I took a lesson and now I can do it at home before we go.

By the way, this only numbs the outer layers of the skin, so it may not be

too helpful for regular deeper injections.

One other comment...there is a new way of drawing blood using a little

needle called a " butterfly " ...it is a small needle attached to a length of

flexible tubing. As the different vials are being filled for various tests,

the vials are changed at the end of the tubing instead of at the syringe

site. This prevents the needle from being pulled around in the child's arm

each time the vials are changed. Evidently some people are more comfortable

drawing blood using a butterfly than others. I would definitely recommend

calling the lab ahead of time and asking when someone will be there who is

especially great with kids and if they can use a butterfly to draw with.

That's all I can think of, but these things have made a world of difference

to my son and he really doesn't mind the draws anymore.

Caroline

[Guest guest]

I used an EMLA patch when my son got all his bloodwork done a couple of

weeks ago. I can't say enough about how useful that was. I don't think

he felt a thing. He certainly didn't like being held down but that was

the only problem. He sat on my lap and I held him while one nurse took

the blood while another held his arm. I had lots of treats and

surprises for after. He did great, much to my relief. Good luck with

your child.

Bill wrote:

>

>

> Hello.

>

> We are new to this group. My wife Diane and I live in Chattanooga,

> Tennessee with our eight year old son Jimmy. Jimmy's diagnosis is

> " atypical " autism. We will see Dr. Goldberg for the first time in

> March.

>

> Jimmy has had his blood drawn only once since he was an infant. It

> was a traumatic event for all concerned. It took four adults to hold

> him down, and he screamed at the top of his lungs and cried " Mommy,

> please help me. Please, Mommy, please. They're hurting me " the

> entire time. Needless to say, we were all basket cases by the time

> everything was over. Jimmy still talks about the event (from last

> summer), so we know he still is traumatized by it.

>

> Does anyone have any ideas for how to lessen my son's terror? Our

> pediatrician has offered us Xanax for a one-time blood drawing. Does

> anyone have any experience with Xanax for severe anxiety like this?

>

> Thanks in advance.Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download :

> http://explorer.msn.com

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Try easing his anxiety by writing him a social story. Read books from

the library about medical procedures and doctor visits, play doctor

with a doctor kit, give him a script to use with the doctor about his

anxiety. Maybe get him a special squishy toy to hold during the draw,

or make up a song about it. Expose him to as much similar stuff as

you can in a positive way. My son had a horrible time getting blood

drawn, but he had to have minor surgery and since we did so much prep

work with him he did great.

Khris