A snapshot of child life

Last week Brooklyn and I took a trip up to McMaster Children's Hospital to visit our friend Nancy, one of two child life specialists in oncology. The pre-planned appointment was set with a goal of preparing Brooklyn for her next MRI, taking place this week.

Brooklyn spent about an hour with Nancy, focusing their time together on IV insertion and use as well as the MRI machine. Brooklyn's last experience went very poorly in nuclear imaging so Nancy kindly suggested we be more proactive in our approach this time around.

Brooklyn learned about how the needle retracts after entering the vein and leaves only a 'straw' behind in her body. She was reminded how helpful emla cream is in reducing needle pain, and practiced removing bandages carefully and slowly to diminish hurt. They talked about the difference between 'sleeping' at home and 'sleepy medicine' at the hospital, and why its so important she sleep through this test.

She also made a diagram to remind herself what she can and cannot do on the day of her MRI. The outside depicts things she can do - play ipad, close her eyes, take a deep breath, etc - and the inside marks the four things she cannot do - run, hit, yell or kick. She also pre-picked a special prize to reward her for good behaviour at this week's appointment.

Here are a few photos to help visualize her experience.




Visual reminder of can and can't dos.




Brooklyn giving her doll 'sleepy medicine'.




Step one of IV insertion.




After placing 'emla' on Nancy's hand, she then
practiced taking the band-aid off to reduce pain.




Miniature MRI machine

The child life team at Mac are incredible people. They are courage-builders, peace-makers, teachers and cheerleaders for children experiencing traumatic and scary situations. My heart is always so darn full after spending any amount of time with them.

Brookie's MRI is this week. I will share her results later in July.
Please pray for a NED result.

#TeamBrookie #WarriorPrincess