Teddy Bear Clinic

I wanted to tell you all about an event that our local hospital sponsored for children yesterday.

I found out through a friend that our hospital was having a Teddy Bear Clinic.  I was unsure if my 3 year old would enjoy it but I called to get details anyway.  I found out from the contact person that it would be for ages 2 and up and it would help with any fears that a child might have about doctors or the hospital.  I went ahead and schedule a time for us to attend.

I was very impressed because the whole event was organized and so cute.

When we went to our appointment we went into the hospital where our day surgery would usually take place with our child's favorite bear. Reagan, our daughter, had just hurt her head when she fell off her daddy's recliner the day before so she had a rather large bump on her head.  When the nurses came to assess her bear for surgery they started by asking all of the usual questions when going to the doctor.   She was asked what happened to her bear.  She told them that the bear had fallen off of a chair and hit his head and hurt his arm too.  They also asked other questions like, "how long ago did this happen?"

After the assessment the patient, "her bear" and Reagan were prepped for surgery.  They both were given hats and sent off to anesthesiology.  Reagan was told to help put her bear asleep by using a mask and some other machines.  The mask actually smelled like strawberries (pretty cool).

Then it was time for surgery to take place.  Our bear didn't have much "surgery"  but they did help him out by putting a band-aid on his head and also wrapping his arm in a bandage.  Reagan loved every minute of it.

That wasn't the end of it though.  Next they went to recovery where the bear woke up and actually got a "paw-scription" with candy and lots of stickers and things to help him feel better.

After we left we even received a call to check up on our little patient.  We told them that the bear was doing well but that the bear hadn't been able to rest like they had told us to have him do.  My daughter kept taking him around everywhere we went to show everyone his boo boos.  She was so excited.

 This ended up being a great event and I think that Reagan feels more comfortable about doctors and all of the instruments that may seem scary to a child but are necessary to help during an emergency.

Check out your local newspaper for events like these.  If you are not sure about if the event would be good for your child make contact with the organization to see.  There are many events just like this one that are free and great you just have to get involved and do them.