The Oaxaca Project

When I walked into the cancer area I could see Alejandra with tears in her eyes. The nurse said they were about to put in an IV. Alejandra’s experience of this process is one of pain and she doesn’t want to experience this pain again.

I asked the nurse if she would wait until I worked with Alejandra and she said yes. I appreciate the nurse’s patience and her desire that by releasing the fear Alejandra has that hopefully the experience would be better for them all. It is not pleasant for the nurses to put in the IV when it is a painful and difficult process for the child.

I sat down next to Alejandra. I asked her what she felt about them putting in the IV. It was fear. We tapped on the fear of the IV, of it hurting, that it was always painful, that the nurses poked her many times. The fear was in her heart and chest. We tapped until she didn’t feel that fear because she could imagine taking that fear out of her heart and chest. I continued by tapping on the power she has over what happens to her body especially when she “talks” to her body about what she would like:
– to feel calm even when an IV is put in
– to get better and heal completely
– that it would be easy to find a vein and it would easily stay open

I asked her what animal makes her feel good. It was a rabbit. She always felt calm around them. We tapped about how good she feels when she focuses on the rabbits.

I had her next imagine going into the treatment room and the nurse getting the needles ready. Again the fear returned to her chest. We tapped until she calmed again. When I asked again what she was afraid of it was the needle itself. We tapped until she didn’t feel afraid to think about the needle.

At this point she could imagine going into the treatment room without fear. We then moved to the treatment room and she was still calm. I told her to tell me the second she felt any fear. She stayed calm until the nurse actually poked through her skin. Alejandra felt pain and screamed. I stayed at her side and continued to tap and tap and tap. She would calm some, then get agitated, then calm.

Unfortunately, this vein broke so it was necessary to look for another. This is a common experience for Alejandra. I continued to tap, but had her focus on the rabbits, while tapping that even her veins were going to cooperate to make this a better experience.

As the nurse looked for and found another vein, I continued to tap on Alejandra. She was still upset, but the tapping continued to calm her. I continued to tap and at one point I said: “If I don’t want to be poked anymore then it is time to heal so I don’t have to be.” Alejandra’s eyes opened wide almost as if it hadn’t occurred to her that healing her body would stop the need to be poked. This was an important moment for Alejandra to have that insight.

I continued to tap that she can heal and she can ask her body to heal. This time the vein was good, the blood sample was taken, there was no pain, and before Alejandra knew it, she was all finished.

Was this a completely painless experience? No, but it was very different from what Alejandra normally experiences. Many times the nurse must poke her up to 5 times to get a good vein. Thus, the experience is stressful for Alejandra and for the nurses. This time it was calmer and the second vein opened so easily and without pain.

I told Alejandra that we didn’t get it without pain the first time but the continued tapping and desire for it to be easy let the next one be without so much better. Sometimes it requires that we practice tapping.

A few days later she had another IV put in when I was not present. I checked with the nurse (a different one than the day I did tap) and she told me that Alejandra was much calmer than usual after I shared with her what had occurred in our tapping session.

My point is that sometimes we must persist in our tapping and visualizing. Alejandra has many many experiences where putting in an IV is painful. Showing her that tapping a few times will allow her to reduce that fear and pain will help her understand that she will be able to create a completely new experience. She likes that very much.