"My son's extreme fear of needles"

My son had to have a blood test redone after taking unwell last year. We had an appointment for them to be done at the paediatric ward in St John's. Unfortunately after 40 minutes of encouragement and patience, my son didn't get them done as he had worked himself up into such a state because of extreme fear of needles.

We return again recently with a few coping techniques but again after 20 minutes of patience, encouragement and distracting he was having none of it. Jillian, the play specialist had been at both appointments and was absolutely brilliant. It was at the second appointment that she offered us some support sessions in a bid to try and get him comfortable enough to get the test done.

We had three sessions with Jillian. You could see she was invested in my son and getting him to his end goal. What a wonderful asset to the children's ward there. Jillian was able to explain everything and get my son talking about a few of the reasons he was fearful about the test. My son listened to her and her suggestions and the possibility of an alternative way of having the blood taken. It wasn't easy reminding and encouraging him at home to put her suggestions into practice but we got there. My son was skeptical that her calming techniques through breathing and going to happy places worked so he had a prove put on his finger to show him how it worked with the visual on his heart rate. Luckily my son works well with visual leads and loves numbers.

Through her experience and knowledge Jillian knew that my son was relaxed enough to give it a go with the alternative option of a thumb prick. Of course, it was discussed with my son first and he agreed much to our surprise. He was an absolute superstar all thanks to the help of Jillian.  His fear of needles is by no means cured but he was able to see past his fear and panic for this purpose. It is great to know that we can be referred to her again should we be in the same position again in the future.