Blood Draw

April 3, 2002

In a message dated 4/3/2002 5:51:08 PM Central Standard Time,

car4532@... writes:

> My DAN doctor prescribes the EMLA

> creme kit. The kit has a creme that is put on 1.5 to 2 hours before,

> plus it has two plastic covers that protect the creme (from getting wiped

> off on the shirt, etc.) I put the creme on the inside of each elbow.

> The creme numbs the area, and my daughter has never had a problem with

> blood draws.

We have to do the dreaded blood draw on my son next week. Having his blood

drawn is probably the worst thing that has ever happened to my son in his

young life (in his opinion). But I don't think the EMLA cream will work for

us. For one thing, he hates cream, lotion, salves, etc. being put on him. In

the summer (and we live in sunny San ) putting suntan lotion on him is

a horrendous ordeal. And the next problem is that he absolutely and totally

refuses to have bandaids or stickers or tattoos of any kind on his skin.

Guess you could say he's a sensitive guy. I think having the EMLA and a

covering patch for two hours would be as traumatic for him as the actual

draw!

We're considering paying a plebotomist to come to our house, so we don't have

the ordeal of driving to the hospital with my son asking why we're going

there and having him stress out in the waiting room. But then again, I want

him to think of our house as a safe haven, so am not sure having blood drawn

here is a good idea either. We're trying to get recommendations of good

plebotomists in town, haven't heard of any yet. Last time, we called hospital

ahead of time to see when a child-friendly one would be available, but still

had a brutal time.

Suggestions welcome!

Debbie

April 3, 2002

Yes!! I forgot to mention this before-we also use Emla cream both

for my daughter and my infant son-it is WONDERFUL!!!!!

katherine ---

In @y..., car4532@j... wrote:

> Stacey wrote:

>

> " We have switched to another DAN doctor and today we had to go get

blood

> drawn. Always an ordeal. My heart cried for him. They had to

strap him

> into the papoose to get the blood and he screamed so hard. He's

only 2

> 1/2 so he does not understand why we are doing this to him. I try

to

> explain to him but I don't know if he understands or not. "

>

> Stacey,

>

> I wanted to comment on the above. My DAN doctor prescribes the EMLA

> creme kit. The kit has a creme that is put on 1.5 to 2 hours

before,

> plus it has two plastic covers that protect the creme (from getting

wiped

> off on the shirt, etc.) I put the creme on the inside of each

elbow.

> The creme numbs the area, and my daughter has never had a problem

with

> blood draws. (In fact, they always comment that she is better than

some

> of the adults!)

>

> I don't understand why a doctor would put a child (especially such a

> young child who can not understand the reason " why " ) through a

blood draw

> without the EMLA creme when it can be so painless with the EMLA

creme!!

>

> Also, make sure your child gets plenty of liquids the day BEFORE the

> blood draw. This helps to " plump " up the veins and makes the draw

go

> much easier.

>

> As for your main frustration, I believe that it is from one of the

> supplements. I would eliminate all the new supplements and then

start

> new ones two weeks apart to give you plenty of time to figure out

if a

> supplement is causing a problem before adding the next one.

>

> If eliminating the supplements doesn't help, then consider

switching to

> the non-papain and non-bromelain (pineapple) enzymes, which would

be the

> Carbo made by Enzymedica instead of the Zyme Prime (and the new AFP

> Peptizyde made by Houston and available soon, instead of the regular

> Peptizyde).

>

> I have a way to track supplements and behavior. If you want a copy

of my

> supplement tracking schedule, just e-mail me off-line at

> car4532@j... (I give so many supplements that I feel like a

> full-time nurse!)

>

> Carolyn

April 4, 2002

Try to find a doc to give you a prescription for one 1 mg. tablet of

Risperdal (don't know if it comes in a liquid form too, but a friend of mine

used it and crushed the tablet and gave it in juice). We use that EVERY time

we have a blood draw. It is an anti-psychotic. It makes my son drowsy and

groggy and he hardly knows he is having his blood drawn. Our DAN! doc

prescribed it for us because I told him I didn't want to get the draw without

some kind of a sedative--I WILL NOT put my son through something like that

again (did it once when he was 3 for anesthesia with an MRI)--it's barbaric.

The Risperdal (Risperidone) has caused no side effects and wears off within

24 hours. You have to take it at least an hour before the draw.

We also use the EMLA patches.

- Becky B. (Indiana)

April 4, 2002

Not sure how old your son is but if he is young, call ahead and ask if they have

one of those papoose things. When we went for blood draws at the local

children's hospital they did not have anything like that and it took 5 adults to

hold a screaming 2 1/2 year old. Yesterday we had another blood draw where they

used the papoose. it looks bad but was easier on the child and us. Because he

is restrained ( which he hates worse than the needles) they were able to draw

the blood much quicker and get it over with. Plus it eliminates the trauma of

having the parents restrain the child. With a papoose you can stand by your

child and speak in his ear but you do not have to do the restraining yourself.

After our first one without the papoose- my son would not look at me for 3 days.

I was heartbroken. The papoose they used on my son yesterday was pretty large

but I don't know how old your child is but thought I'd mention it anyway

stacey

Re: [ ] Blood draw