The Oaxaca Project

Samantha does NOT like when she has an IV put in. She doesn’t like the needles and DOESN’T want to be poked. She cries when the nurse attempts to hold her hand to look for a vein. I came up and did some tapping for her but she continued to cry. The cries weren’t as loud or anywhere near as angry as they used to be in the past. I know part of her anger and cries are her way of looking for attention and to be heard (she had a tumor in her mouth and throat).

I continued to surrogate tap for her and talk to her. I tapped that the nurse only need to poke her in one try, and he did. I tapped that she could be relaxed and that way it would hurt less. She calmed but with tears running down her face as she watched her IV being put in place.

Even though the nurses hadn’t finished taping the needle in place, Samantha asked me for some paper to draw on. (I love when a child forgets the trauma and looks for something fun to do) I got some and told her it had some things written in English on the back (I donate old papers to the hospital so the kids have more paper to draw on). I read a few lines in English. Boy did Samantha laugh. She asked me to say more in English. She would laugh again and again.

It’s nice that even something as speaking a different language can help a child forget about having an IV put in. When I left she was contently drawing pictures.