Pippa’s Story

Nine-year-old Pippa has NF2, a rare genetic disorder that causes non-cancerous tumours to grow along nerves in the brain and spinal cord.

Since being diagnosed at when she was five years old, Pippa has had surgery three times to treat a tumour in her brain and proton beam radiotherapy last year to slow down its re-growth. Pippa also has smaller tumours along her spine which, although don’t cause her problems at the moment, need regular monitoring.

Understandably, Pippa gets very anxious when she needs to come into hospital. With the help of the play team, she’s more comfortable about having MRI scans now, but needles really frighten her.  There have been times where Pippa’s fear is so overwhelming that it can take hours for the play team to help her feel calm enough to have a cannula inserted, often resulting in missing her MRI slot and having to wait until the end of the day to be fitted in.

In the lead up to an MRI scan earlier this year, Pippa needed a lumbar puncture. It was an uncomfortable and long procedure, and it made her anxiety worse.  When it came to her next scan date only a few weeks later, Pippa was just too frightened to let the nurse insert the needle for her cannula and the MRI couldn’t go ahead.  It was an anxious time for both Pippa and her mum, who knows how important the MRI scans are to monitor the tumours.

Seeing that Pippa needed more support, the play team organised for Pippa to visit for a session with play specialist, Kelly. Together they practiced inserting lines into a pretend hand and Kelly gave Pippa a little pack to go home with so she could practice on her teddies too. In a play room rather than a treatment room, Kelly explained the whole process calmly to Pippa and they talked about different coping mechanisms and calming strategies that Pippa might like to try. Pippa left feeling calm and happy and when it came to the returning to hospital for her MRI scan a few weeks later, Pippa had her line inserted with no problem at all.

Mum, Amy said:  “The play team are the first people Pippa looks for when she comes to the children’s hospital. They’re so patient with her and with them there, though it can take a long time, they usually do manage to bring her round. But her fear obviously for much worse after the lumbar puncture and the play team could see that she needed more help. The session with Kelly was just incredible. Pippa was beaming when she managed to have her line inserted first time because she wanted so much to make the play team proud.

“I think people who have no experience of the play service think they’re just there to give out toys, but they are about so much more than that. They definitely make the hospital experience more fun but I honestly think that without them, half the procedures that need to be done just wouldn’t be.  They’re experts in explaining things in a way that makes children feel relaxed and comfortable. They make a huge fuss of Pippa whenever they see her and regardless of what’s happened while she’s there, she leaves hospital each time feeling like a queen.”