Welcome to Living Healthy Chicago.
I'm Jane Monzures.
Now a big part of bouncing back from a health issue
can be managing the stress and anxiety
that comes with not feeling like yourself.
And that's especially true when it comes to kids.
So let's find out how a very special assistant
helped this little girl relax
as she underwent treatment for a broken elbow.
- Yes, seashells.
- All right, we'll write like this.
- Yes.
- There we go.
- [Jane] As with many childhood injuries,
six year old Lila's story begins on the playground.
- I was on a glider when my friend was on a swing.
And I was like halfway there and I was pushing
like this with one hand and then I decided like
to drop cause I wasn't gonna make it.
- [Jane] As soon as she fell she knew something was wrong.
- It really hurt.
I even said I think I broke my arm.
- I walk over there and she is laying on the ground
and she's like my elbow.
And she stands up and she couldn't really move it.
- [Jane] A trip to the doctor and some x-rays
confirmed the break.
And that Lila would need surgery.
(knocking)
- [Lauren] Come in!
- The reason surgery is needed is it's important
to hold the bone in the right place
so that it heals in the shape that it was
before it was broken.
But you need metal pins to hold it.
The younger the are, the faster you heal.
So for this type of injury in a six year old
it's generally, sort of 80% healed in three weeks.
- [Jane] However, the thought of surgery left Lila uneasy.
- She immediately started crying and I, you know,
was just kind of in shock.
And Doctor Benson did say, he's like,
"You know what honey, in a couple days after the surgery
you know, when you come see me, we can maybe meet my dog."
- Cooper, come on up!
(squeak) Uh, uh, oh!
(family laughing)
I certified both of my dogs to be certified therapy dogs.
Emotional support, that's his certification now.
So he will interact with the patients
in a way that's appropriate.
So how's your elbow doing?
- Great!
- [Benson] Yeah, does it hurt?
- No!
We petted them, I fed them treats.
They made me like forget about the bad things
that were gonna happen.
So I was happy about that.
- For the kids who have these injuries
where I'm specifically bringing them in
to sort of reduce their anxiety,
he's absolutely my assistant.
It's you know non-judgemental companionship.
Trying to negotiate that,
sort of the mental aspect of recovery,
you can sort of chip away at some of that anxiety.
Or make them feel confident that they're gonna recover.
That's huge.
- I said that's great, whatever can put her at ease
and there was the thought of that.
- Good job!
- I think that really helped her state of mind.
Kids were running around the office with them.
I mean it wasn't even like we were at the doctor's,
it really wasn't.
- Doing the surgery is hard enough,
and I'm not gonna downplay that,
but I think that the emotional
and mental aspects of recovery are probably more important.
Anybody's outcome from any injury is
so intimately related to sort of the psycho-social impact
of how they adapt.
So if you can manage to make that sort of domain better
it's unbelievable.
- [Jane] It wasn't long before it was time
for Lila's cast to come off.
And she began feeling like herself again.
- Try overhand!
(giggling) that throw was good.
- I feel very relieved knowing that this is something
in the past, it was something fixed.
She's good!
I think she's got her range of motion back.
Doctor Benson did a wonderful job.
- It was all good!
Now I'm back to normal, go on the playground now.
- She's back doing her monkey bars,
climbing the top of our swing set.
- Much to my chagrin.
I am just very relieved to see
that this can be written away, one less worry.
- [Jane] Doctor Benson hopes that Cooper
will teach others that it's just as important
to take care of your emotions as it is
to stay on course with any injury related treatment.
- You have to address the psycho-social aspects of recovery.
Not paying attention to that puts an enormous opportunity
out of reach where you can really
make the patient's recovery a lot less troublesome.
There's even a direct connection
to how much pain they'll report based on sort of
what the whole experience is like.
(children laughing)