Little Girl With Autoimmune Disease Creates 'Medi Teddy' To Help Children Loose Their Fear Of IV

Jun 18, 2019 by apost team

The sterile and bleak atmosphere of a hospital can be extremely distressing.

Being surrounded by scary equipment, tubes, machines, and needles is no picnic for an adult, let alone for a child with a chronic illness who might have to visit the hospital constantly. 

That scariness was something that 12-year-old Ella Casano experienced first-hand. Ella was diagnosed with a rare disease called idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, also known as ITP. On her website, she explains how her disease makes her have a very low platelet count that puts her at a high risk of bleeding or injury.

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Her treatment involves visiting the outpatient clinic every 8 weeks in order to get an infusion of medicine. For a girl who was diagnosed when she was only 7 years old, that accumulates to a lot of hospital visits. She may be a little bit more used to the hospital by now but nevertheless, those initial daunting visits sent her a bolt of inspiration of how to improve her experience.

Ella is the inventor of the “Medi Teddy,” something she created to help her cope with the intimidating equipment surrounding her. And it wasn’t something she just created for herself. On her website she says,

“As I saw more and more children experiencing the same feelings [of surprise and intimidation], I became more interested in creating a friendlier experience for young IV patients, so I created Medi Teddy. I hope that Medi Teddy helps you just as much as it helps me!”

The Medi Teddy is a pouch that hangs on an IV drip to hide the bags of blood or medicine that might be scary to pediatric patients. Ella has a patent on the idea and needed to raise cash via GoFundMe in order to donate 500 stuffed bears to hospitals in their community. Gladly, the fundraiser has shattered her goal and now they’re able to help plenty more kids in need.

What do you think of Ella’s idea? Is it something you’d want to see in your hospital’s pediatric wing? Let others know about this groundbreaking invention and Ella's amazing backstory.