I'm not sure if this really helps since I'm a guy, but you get it anyway.
I am very very very very ticklish.
VERY.
I think you get the point.
People who get to touch me know that - they have to take special care not to hit the ticklish zones in a manner that sets me off. The odd part about it is once I have been tickled, the zones widen and more things become ticklish.
The key is (for me, at least) to try and avoid things that trigger the tickle response. If this means petting in a different manner or holding your partner in a different way, then that is what you have to do. The tickle response will lessen slightly as the relationship goes on. Not to say it will go away, because it won't. I assume you could extrapolate that to women as well.
Also, can you explain how someone can be ok with oral but not with vaginal sex? Oral sex is so much more personal, in my opinion. Is this a religious thing? If so, how is oral not frowned upon as well?