Child with cystic fibrosis - Port cleaning roll play

This video can aid parents or persons involved in doing any unpleasant medical procedures on young children, by making it much more digestible for the young child.

We have tested this on our own child a number of times and it really works - as you will see in this 15 minute video (there is a short introduction in writing and then the actual video).

We take you through a live example of this "role playing / role reversal process" being done by our 2 and a half year old daughter on her doll, where she inserts a needle into her dole and plays the doctor, just before I insert a needle into her port.

Until we started this process, we would go to the local hospital and a most special person and nurse -- sister Esme - would insert the needle into her port, whilst at least 3 people held her down to keep her still. This is all despite sister Esme's loving and caring ways (and my daughter, Tehilla, was always hysterical during and after this traumatic process).

WHY WE THINK IT WORKS
The simple principle behind our little procedure breakthrough is that the more a person understands and connects to a process or idea, the more he is able to deal with it. Added to this, the more involved we are in a process or idea, the more we relate and therefore connect to it (anyone who has played sports understands the difference between being in the stands and playing on the field).

Viktor Frankl taught that man's primary motivational force is a search for meaning, and I believe that is at the heart of Tehilla's fascination with the process and her internalization of it when it is done on her ("He who has a why to live can bear almost any how". Friedrich Nietzsche)
Given the above, it is important to realize that this process can only be done WHEN THE CHILD IS OLD ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND SUCH MATTERS!

TEHILLA'S BRIEF HISTORY
Tehilla Sara Bacher was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the 9th Oct 2007 - at 2:06am - weighing 3kg. Initially, she presented as a most happy and content baby, however, soon after she began to exhibit real consistent pain for her first 4 months of life until after many doctors' visits and tests, Tehilla was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (the source of her chronic indigestion and mal-absorption pains).
Thank G-d, she is doing well and is on a daily regimen of physiotherapy, nebulisation and various medicines and vitamin cocktails. Sadly, she has the Delta F508 CF gene and at 5 months cultured pseudomonas. We were then advised by our wonderful pediatrician Dr Susan Klugman, to insert a port into her chest and to immediately start an aggressive IV process -- lasting 2 weeks every 3 months. It has been an emotionally and physically taxing journey and we pray daily that a cure will be found soon for our beautiful gift, who we love and adore more and more each day.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Tehilla
• Bacher
• port
• clean
• cystic
• fibrosis
• doll
• role
• play

[danieljneville]

Great. My boy is 6 and we are doing this every 3 months too for sinus infection and surgery. I will try something like it. Cheers!!

[brooklyngymnast]

breathe..