Tocky's anxieties

So we have all had a day at home today as Saturday's are usually visiting the in laws day but father in law has a cold and doesn't want Tocky to catch it!

So far today, Tocky has had a good day with BM's of 6.3 before breakfast, 5.4 before lunch and 8.2 before dinner! Yay! Let's hope it stays that way through the night!

Right now, he's not wearing a sensor. Although they are great, they're only great when they work! For instance, early this morning around 4am I was awoken by an alarm alerting me he was 2.9 and dropping. I checked his BM and he was 9.5!!! Arrrgghhhh!!! This happens quite often but usually because he is lying on the sensor but this one has been playing up since Friday morning so I think he needs a new one on this evening.

So, back to last year, after being poked, prodded and pricked by various medical professionals whilst in hospital, we began to notice how anxious Tocky had become with normal situations.  For instance, he would scream the place down if he was having his feet measured for new shoes. We put this down to all the blood being taken from his feet. Even now, he only lets hubby and in laws touch his feet (and me of course!)

Whilst visiting nannie and gangan (as he calls them) if anyone came round to see him, he would cry but they didn't care - most people understood that what he had been through caused him not to trust anyone and feel like someone was going to do something to hurt him.

It only used to annoy me and still does when in the company of some, they would say "oh, he's a cry baby" or "all he's done is cry since he's been here"! Well to them, I would like to say SHUT THE HELL UP AND THINK!!!!!!

I had also been taking him to weekly toddler sessions and even there, he would cry and cling onto me for about 15 mins but once he saw children playing, he would go off and play. Not as bad as hospital but anxiety was there.

Anyway, these anxiety spells would worsen when it was time for our Endo appointments. Wow, they all knew Tocky was in - they could hear him! He would be hysterical as soon as we got to hospital. In fact, to get to hospital, we drove past an Asda and he knew then where we were going which would upset him.

Around his December appointment, our Endo suggested Tocky may benefit from play therapy so that he would associate the hospital with positive things. We were open to try anything as we hated seeing him so upset for something that would be a regular thing. We were introduced to Jo, a play therapist, after Tocky's appointment and he had a little play in the side area of one of the wards.  After Christmas, we started having weekly play sessions. At first, he would get a little upset but then calm down. By March this year, he showed signs of much improvement as we changed the sessions to once fortnightly.

By his next appointment in April, Tocky was a little calmer but freaked out when the Endo checked his sites (where his infusion and sensor are inserted) for lumps and bumps (lumps under skin where insertion sites are reused causing scar tissue) which are all clear I'm glad to say. He also has an aversion to one of the Diabetes Nurses who is lovely but she tries to stay away from him!!!

Skip again to his most recent October appointment and I'm sure I have a different son. He went into the nurses room as always to check his Hba1c (3 monthly blood test measuring glucose average) and nothing. He just went in, sat down and played with his daddy!! OMG he was finally fine!!! And then in to see the Endo, no crying but a little moan when she checked his sites (still clear) and he even waved bye!!!

We were so proud of him. All the stress he had experienced was finally on it's way out. We are so grateful to the play therapist/s who helped him gain confidence as it really made a dramatic difference. He's even been running into toddler sessions since around April!

Play therapy involves the child facing his fears in certain situations which cause him stress as well as just play. Tocky used to get upset whilst being weighed, measured and having his blood pressure taken. Jo tried to introduce toys into the room where these were done so that Tocky would disassociate the tests. After a few months, he happily went into the room to play and have all his tests done before his clinic appointment to avoid further stress on the day.

If anyone's children suffer with anxiety or stress related to hospitals or doctors, I would highly recommend enquiring about play therapy. It has worked wonders!