If you didn’t already read here about several of my son C’s difficult experiences with TEDDY blood draws, I can tell you that so far in TEDDY, the majority of his blood draws have been somewhat traumatic for him. Rather than drop out of the study, which I definitely considered, I felt that it was important for him and me to work past the difficulties and do whatever we could to turn TEDDY into a positive experience for him. As we approached the 21 month visit, C’s stranger anxiety was still pretty high, but after a while he usually warmed up to new people when he saw that I was friendly with them. The 18 month visit started badly because the first thing that happened was a strange person came up to him and touched him, to put the EMLA cream on his arms. I decided to take this factor out of the equation by putting the EMLA cream on at home. I’m no expert at putting it on though, so he still got mad at me, but that kind of thing happens every day anyway when I put sunscreen on him.
I was also a lot more used to dealing with his fears of new situations, so I did the same thing I do before any unfamiliar experience—I prep him in advance. The morning of our 21 month visit I told him, “Today we are going to go to TEDDY! We are going to a big building and there will be a few people that you don’t know who will want to talk to you and touch you, but it will be okay and I will be right there with you the whole time.” I told him this several times that morning, and each time I emphasized that I would be there with him and that fun things would also happen like he would get to watch bubbles and pick out his own toy to take home. I think he was actually excited to get there! He got a little nervous when we walked into the building, but he calmed down pretty quickly when I again told him how fun it would be and that I would stay there with him.
TEDDY staff member B was really great about putting him at ease in the visit. He started off with his head buried in my chest again, but after awhile he warmed up and was playing peek-a-boo with B. He was also very happy to show off what a big boy he was by stepping onto the scale by himself. By the time it was time for the blood draw, he was comfortable, having fun, laughing, popping bubbles, and giving high fives to the blood draw helpers. We were so busy popping bubbles that neither he nor I noticed when the needle went into his arm. After a minute he looked over at the needle and whined for a second, but he was quickly distracted again by the bubbles. I was so unbelievably happy at how well the visit had gone! I’m sure that putting the EMLA on at home and really preparing him for what was going to happen made a huge difference. I’m feeling happy and relieved that we can stay in TEDDY without it being a hugely negative experience, and I’m even more relieved to have just learned he is still negative for the diabetes antibodies.
I was also a lot more used to dealing with his fears of new situations, so I did the same thing I do before any unfamiliar experience—I prep him in advance. The morning of our 21 month visit I told him, “Today we are going to go to TEDDY! We are going to a big building and there will be a few people that you don’t know who will want to talk to you and touch you, but it will be okay and I will be right there with you the whole time.” I told him this several times that morning, and each time I emphasized that I would be there with him and that fun things would also happen like he would get to watch bubbles and pick out his own toy to take home. I think he was actually excited to get there! He got a little nervous when we walked into the building, but he calmed down pretty quickly when I again told him how fun it would be and that I would stay there with him.
TEDDY staff member B was really great about putting him at ease in the visit. He started off with his head buried in my chest again, but after awhile he warmed up and was playing peek-a-boo with B. He was also very happy to show off what a big boy he was by stepping onto the scale by himself. By the time it was time for the blood draw, he was comfortable, having fun, laughing, popping bubbles, and giving high fives to the blood draw helpers. We were so busy popping bubbles that neither he nor I noticed when the needle went into his arm. After a minute he looked over at the needle and whined for a second, but he was quickly distracted again by the bubbles. I was so unbelievably happy at how well the visit had gone! I’m sure that putting the EMLA on at home and really preparing him for what was going to happen made a huge difference. I’m feeling happy and relieved that we can stay in TEDDY without it being a hugely negative experience, and I’m even more relieved to have just learned he is still negative for the diabetes antibodies.
