Many parents state that helplessness begins to disappear when a sense of reality returns. Discovering healthy ways to vent anger is a vital tool for all parents. Parents grieve the loss of normalcy, the realization that life will never be the same. Permission is granted to print and distribute this excerpt for noncommercial use as long as the above source is included. The information in this article is meant to educate and should not be used as an alternative for professional medical care.
Many parents become physically ill in the weeks following diagnosis.
This is not surprising, given that most parents stop eating or grab only fast food, normal sleep patterns are a thing of the past, and staying in the hospital exposes them to all sorts of illnesses. Every waking moment is filled with excruciating emotional stress, which makes the physical stress so much more potent. The second week in the hospital I developed a ferocious sore throat, runny nose, and bad cough. Her counts were on the way down, and they ordered me out of the hospital until I was well. It was agony.