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| Participation Pointers Did you know you can sometimes help make decisions about your treatment? Doctors or nurses might be able to make a procedure more comfortable for you if they know how you feel. Here are some ways to get more involved in your care. • If you feel better when a parent is with you for a procedure (to hold your hand or talk to you) ask what treatment they may be able to stay with you for.  • You may be able to make choices about some of your routines, such as which medication to take first, or what position you want to be in for procedures. Let your doctors and nurses know if you have a request. •It's your illness, and you should have as much say over your treatment as possible. It may help to be able to say, "I don't want that procedure at all, but if I must, this is the way I'd like to have it." • Your hospital may have books or videotapes that explain some procedures. Ask your nurse or BMT coordinator about these if you're interested. •The people on your BMT team are there to give you the best care possible. Let them know when you need something. •Hospital caregivers often make you follow strict rules-routines you hate, or limitations on your freedom-which can be a drag. But those rules will help you get better faster. If you're upset about your treatment, try not to take out your anger on your caregivers. •If you're not having a good day, say so. Your doctors and nurses may be able to do something to make you feel better. • You'll be working with your treatment team for a long time—make friends with them. Ask them about themselves: what they like to do for fun, or what their favorite kind of music is. Good friends make good teammates! |
Learn More, Fear Less! Whenever Cristina had to undergo a new procedure, her BMT team made it like a science project. Her doctors showed Cristina her x-rays and explained them to her. Technicians let her look at her blood samples under a microscope to see how her cells were doing.  And
when she had stomach problems that needed to be checked, doctors used a
special camera to take internal pictures, then shared the photos with Cristina.
Learning all these things helped make procedures less scary for her. |