We had several weeks to prepare the Fry for the inevitable day. Every. Single. Time. He growlingly refused and said he was not giving any blood. I reminded him that this time, he was not to call anyone a vampire. Yes. A vampire.
Flashing back a few months prior, Fry had a finger prick at his annual physical. You would have thought he was being tortured. It took 2 nurses and myself to hold him down as they painstakingly squeezed blood from his finger into a tiny vial. The whole time there were threats, and intense squirming and yelling. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. The nurses were not very happy until he bellowed out, "You all are a bunch of vampires!" "Vampires- stealing my blood!" "You are not trying to help me!" "This is my body and you can't take my blood!" "You are all vampires!" Then the nurses burst out into smiles as they attempt to get one last drop of blood before leaving.
The first blood draw went off without a comment about a vampire, but there sure was a lot of yelling, crying, and reprimanding us going on. Things like, "This is my body." "You can't do this to my body." and of course, "You all are a bunch of evil meanies." Phew! After this intense emotional ordeal, we all took a nap.
A few months later, we took Fry back to visit a specialist who, again, wanted to check his blood levels. I asked for the "red juice"- you know the stuff that they give kids before surgery to make them loopy and "not care". Well, there was no red juice. We asked the nurse for the numbing cream. I'm not sure the cream makes much of a difference when we are dealing with a kid with hypersensitivities, but it was worth a shot. Her response was, "Well we will have to wait 20 minutes."
Oh lady, I thought. You better bring that cream in and you better not be the one to draw the blood. By now Fry was at his normal yelling. Adam and I would cram a fruit snack or a sip of Sprite in his mouth in between each angry protest. It was all the same sentences as before (minus the vampires) except this time he yelled, "This doctor is only getting a one star review from me!" "No, wait. She's not getting any stars!" "She's nothing but an evil doctor." Adam was wishing for his ear plugs and I was wondering where I could get some red juice for myself.
We didn't want him to scare the other children in the waiting room. As we walked down the hallway, I reminded Fry to quiet down. To which he replied, "Oh no, I am gonna tell all of them this place is evil- this place doesn't want to help kids- they all need to get out of here." Fortunately, he kept those comments to himself. When we got to the room in which the bloodletting would take place we were greeted by an angel with the name of Cindy.
Cindy greeted the Fry with a smile. She remained calm and her words dripped with honey each time she addressed the almost-foaming-at-the-mouth Fry. She explained what she was going to do, and if he calmed down she would only have to stick him one time in the arm. Fry tried to kick the other nurse out of the room and angelic Cindy said Fry had to trust her to be quick and gentle and she had to trust him to stay still. I positioned myself across his legs, Adam held back his swinging hand that tried to free his arm from the nurse and the inevitable needle stick. Angelic Cindy had that needle in his arm and filled 6 vials of blood in no time. While we waited for the blood to fill the vials, I could actually let up pressure on his legs.
When it was all said and done, orange band aid in place, Fry turned to Cindy and said, I can give you a 5 star review, but the rest of this place still gets just one star." Cindy laughed. I hope she knows she deserves more than 5 stars because nurse Cindy never lost her sweet, calm composure in the midst of a blood drawing rage.
How do your kids act with "evil" medical procedures? How do you prepare them for it? What tips do you have for making this an easier situation?
And to all the nurses (& phlebotomists) out there- Know that you are appreciated. You work long, hard hours and deal with tough situations and even tougher patients. During EVERY hour of your shift:
‘May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
25
May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
26
May the Lord show you his favor
and give you his peace.’
~Numbers 6:24-26~
