Your Sick Child Wants to Feel Normal: Here’s How to Help Them
At age seven, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. A scary reality hit my parents like a ton of bricks. How are we going to protect our baby girl? What types of walls or shelter do we need to create so that she can survive this cancer and be well again? I can only imagine the thoughts that went through my parents’ minds as I endured six major surgeries throughout my childhood years—and then several minor ones decades after the cancer had been removed. They were going to build a fort to protect me. And until I...
Read MoreDealing with Childhood Illness: 7 Ways to Invite Hope into a Seemingly Hopeless Situation
Every year, thousands of children are diagnosed with catastrophic illnesses—illnesses that affect not only them, but the entire family. I would know: When I was seven years old, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. It was, and still is, a very rare disease for someone that age. I spent most of the next several years in the hospital, and endured six major surgeries and several minor ones—even decades after the cancer was in remission… To read the rest of Alesia’s article, click...
Read MoreDealing with Childhood Illness: Social Networking Can Provide Relief
According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 10,000 children under the age of 15 were diagnosed with cancer in 2007, making it the deadliest disease among U.S. children in that age group. I was diagnosed with colon cancer at age seven and spent most of my childhood in and out of hospitals, enduring six major surgeries and several minor ones decades after the cancer was in remission. If you are reading this article because your child has been diagnosed with a similarly devastating disease, then you are...
Read MoreThe Tipping Point: How To Keep it Together When You’re at the Edge
Over the course of my 40-plus years, I have been at the edge many times. As a child who battled cancer, I didn’t exactly know I was trying so hard to keep it together, but there certainly were times when I just wanted to give up fighting and simply be a “normal” kid. As a cancer survivor who continued to have trouble and trauma well into my 20s and 30s, I now know how close to the edge I can get and can only imagine how my parents felt taking care of me as a child. But in situations like mine—and that of...
Read MoreThought for Today…
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller
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