"My daughter sees this experience as a positive one"

My daughter had really bad anxiety about having a procedure done involving having a cannula placed into her arm to the point where she hid under a chair in an appointment which was just to discuss what needed to be done.

We expressed our concerns about how she would cope with having it done due to this. She was referred for procedure anxiety play sessions with the play department.

The sessions started with Claire, and they went at her pace and what she was comfortable with. Through out the sessions Claire explained to my daughter what would happen in the procedure and showed her the equipment that will be used but also allowed her to practice it on a fake medical arm which helped her massively as she knew what to expect and there would be no surprises on the day.

We done multiple play sessions in the months coming up to the procedure with my daughter building a good relationship with Claire and learning more about what would happen on the day until she felt ready. The appointment was made with her asking for Claire to be there too. On the day of the procedure, Claire was there ready waiting for us as we arrived. She spoke her through it all again, asking her how she was feeling and reassured her she will be ok and that she would stay with us through out the procedure.

My daughter managed to have it done without any issues with the help and distraction of Claire showing her a story but also massively benefiting from the informed play sessions in the months before to prepare her. I genuinely believe that she wouldn’t have managed to get the procure done without the help and support she received during the play sessions.

My daughter sees this experience as a positive one and feels that she would be able to do the procedure again if needed.