9 year old dd scared of surgery

[dravensangel]

Hello everyone, my 9 year old daughter is having surgery in three weeks and is terrified, she had a bad experience at an MRI a few months ago where the doctors trying to sedate her were not very good with her. She now says she keeps 'seeing doctors and nurses in her head and they are trying to hurt her'. she is not sleeping, acting up at school some morning, so much so sometimes I have to bring her home and take a day off work. We have taken her to a play specialist at the hospital but as yet it is not helping too much. Any ideas?

Might help. (unMN hug)

Sorry

Surgery is scary for anyone. Do you have a good consultant/GP? Perhaps she needs to be reminded that not all doctors and nurses won't be good with her?

FWIW- I had planned spinal surgery in my 20's and (apart from acting up at school, obv!) was pretty much the same. My dreams were a way of me making sense of what was about to happen to me. Not a bad thing really, perhaps she's old enough to start to understand that?

Lots of reassurance. Talk to the doctors and nurses who will be involved and explain what happened, her named nurse might be able to help her. Make sure those looking after her communicate with her in an age appropriate manner, feeling like a helpless lump of meat to whom these strangers can do anything they want (in her mind) won't help matters.

A therapist who specialises in trauma to help her make sense of what happened (if reassurance doesn't work), a bad experience like that is kind of thing that can easily turn into a phobia - a situation to be avoided if at all possible (says the person with a GP phobic DD).

Thank you all so much for that excellent advice, the you tube clipped helped also. Much appreciated.