Telling my 5 year old about IVIG

[butterflymom]

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Edited October 5, 2015 by tampicc

[dcmom]

YES- quickly go online to Baxter's website.

 

The will send you, no carge, their Baxter bear play IVIG kit. It comes with a stuffed blue bear, and IVIG medical supplies, along with a paper storybook and journal with stickers. My dd was 5.5 at the time and LOVED it- it REALLY helped. (she had pex)

[Phasmid]

I would say (and may be completely wrong), that the less you tell your 5 y.o. the better! I think best to not make a big deal about it. Answer questions that may come up but don't offer additional information unless asked. I don't think its good to have them thinking so much about this procedure ahead of time. Five years is way too young to make sense of any of the "science" behind it.

[peglem]

YES- quickly go online to Baxter's website.

 

The will send you, no carge, their Baxter bear play IVIG kit. It comes with a stuffed blue bear, and IVIG medical supplies, along with a paper storybook and journal with stickers. My dd was 5.5 at the time and LOVED it- it REALLY helped. (she had pex)

Yes, get Baxter's kit! A week before my daughter's IVIG we IVIG'd every stuffed toy in the house. It really, really helped her get through it w/ a lot less anxiety than I expected her to have.

[butterflymom]

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Edited October 5, 2015 by tampicc

[Malke]

I don't have any advice to offer, but my thoughts are with you this weekend! Also, Isobel had blood drawn (first time ever) a couple days ago, and yesterday initiated some interesting play where her toy cat had to go for a blood draw and later we had to write down 'how she was feeling' -- it was interesting that there were the medical records and the home records...sorta like real life.

 

Hugs!

[JAG10]

You have to judge your ds's anxiety and fixation level to determine whether to explain anymore ahead of time. I don't tell my kids anymore than absolutely necessary because it doesn't ease their minds, just extends the period of time they are upset. But, I won't lie to them, so now that they are older, they ask all those "needle and shot" questions at the first utter of doctor.....

[eljay1]

Before we started down the Pandas road, we tried alot of alternative therapies. One of them was iv nutrients. To make a long story short, I ALWAYS used numbing cream for any of these procedures. My son was 5 at the time and we called all ivs and blood draws "pokey tests". He is also very smart, and we kept alot of the details to a minimum. But the day before any procedure, I would tell him he was having a pokey test and then we would be going to the toy store for something special. After a while, he was asking when he could get another pokey--because he was excited to get a new toy. It isn't an incentive for everyone, but he really loves toys (no joke!!) Now, when I think of the future (and if we ever have to do ivig), I think he won't dread the needle quite as much. Also, you would not believe how much money we have spent on toys in the last year!