Hospitalized kids get specialized help to cope with illness

January 15, 2013 Updated: January 16, 2013 9:12pm


The 15-year-old had been in and out of the hospital for four years, receiving treatments for a blood disorder and now undergoing diagnosis for neurological symptoms. The sight of doctors usually made her nervous.

In a few moments, the physicians would perform a biopsy, removing three small bits of skin from Julia's arm. Her eyes darted back and forth from their hands­, covered in blue latex gloves, to her arm, already beginning to numb.

Then, she heard a cheery voice: "You want to dance?"

The voice belonged to Kari Lown, a child life specialist at Texas Children's Hospital, where Julia was being treated one day last week. Instead of medical equipment, Lown carried only an iPad, blasting a Justin Bieber song.

Step by step

The child life department at Texas Children's has a staff of about 40 specialists with educational backgrounds in child development. They are trained to help reduce stress and anxiety in children undergoing surgery and hospitalization, getting them through what could otherwise be a frightening process.

Bieber is Julia's favorite singer. She looked over at her mother, Dora, then to Lown, who was waving her arms from side to side.

Julia burst into a toothy smile. Bashful for just a moment, she then began shaking her shoulders up and down to the music.

As doctors proceeded to take three skin samples, Lown and Julia sang the words to the song out loud together, while Julia wiggled her foot. Although she occasionally cringed with pain, she continued to sing.

The procedure took about 10 minutes. For Julia, it lasted the length of two of her favorite songs.

Child life department services range from taking children through medical procedures step by step - teaching them what to expect in kid-friendly terms and how to cope - to helping siblings who may have trouble understanding a brother or sister's illness.

"It makes my job easier because they are prepped for what they are going to see in the (operating room)," said Dr. Stephen Stayer, medical director of perioperative services at Texas Children's.

Stayer, professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, said the work child life specialists do can reduce anxiety for patients and can reduce or eliminate the use of sedatives during medical procedures.

"The most rewarding part for me is to see a patient master what we practice with their coping," Lown said.

Medical playtime

Later that afternoon, Lown, 26, visited 4-year-old Meara Biggerstaff. She took Meara, dressed in pink pajamas patterned with white and purple bows, to the 11th-floor playroom - three stuffed animals and a hospital intravenous drip machine all in tow.

Lown then engaged Meara in medical play, a technique where children pretend to act out medical procedures on stuffed animals, using a toy medical kit.

"Are you a doctor or a nurse?" Lown asked.

Meara decided to be a doctor and gave all three of her patients - two teddy bears and one stuffed pig - shots, or "pokes," as she described them.

The child, born with a cyst right below her jaw, was hospitalized earlier in the week after it became infected. Her mother, Emily Biggerstaff, said since being hospitalized a few days ago, Meara had IVs inserted into her tiny veins at least three times. The experience had been traumatizing for her, Biggerstaff said.

Medical play allows children to play out their perceptions regarding their own medical experiences.

"(Meara) told me her patients liked the pokes because they were fake. She said she didn't like hers because hers are real," Lown said. "But she still is able to play out that experience and being able to play that out is really helping her cope."

Tour dispels mystery

One of Lown's last visits of the day was with Baylor Dupuy, a small 8-year-old girl with scoliosis, who will be undergoing surgery on her back in about a week.

Baylor's parents, Aimee and Don Dupuy, had requested a tour from the child life department. The tour shows children and parents what will happen and where they will stay at the hospital.

The Dupuys' tour began in a mock operating room. There's a tiny hospital bed with a life-sized fabric doll, a cabinet with pictures of medical supplies that would be in a real operating room and an anesthesia machine.

"This is what it's going to look like when you go see Dr. Phillips," Lown said enthusiastically, speaking to the child at eye level.

Baylor looked around, a bit timid and quiet, taking in the setting. Lown continued to explain to her that she would get a mask and gas would be released into it that would make her fall asleep.

She told the girl she could choose a flavor to go inside her masks and brought out a box with samples from strawberry to root beer. Baylor settled on bubblegum.

As the tour went on - there was the playroom, the hospital room where she would stay and the 16th floor, which has arcade games, a library and a pool table - Baylor became more excited and chatty.

Lown stayed with the family while Baylor had blood drawn in the lab after the tour, blowing bubbles to distract her from the painful process. After it was over, Don Dupuy put his arm around Lown's shoulders, hugging her.

"You were excellent," he said. "Thank you."

Anita Hassan

Anita Hassan

Metro Desk Reporter, Houston Chronicle