7 Ways to Help a Child Deal with a Parent Being Seriously Sick

My 12 year old son Jacob, has been inspired to start his own blog. This is a post he wrote for it, without help of any kind. He wants adults to know how they can help children like him, who suddenly find themselves in a situation where someone they love very much is very sick and has to have major surgery. 

He also wants to bring comfort to other children by letting them know they are not alone in having these feelings. 

If you would like more information about Jacob's blog, please email me at gilly@bringingbooksofcomfort.org or leave a message for him below! -Gilly

About a year ago, my dad had something called Trigeminal Neuralgia. He had something going on with a nerve in his face, and had to have brain surgery. 

As an 11 year old child, I was scared. 

I couldn’t handle it on my own. I needed some things to help me feel better:

1. Information: I needed to know what was going on. If they did the CAT scan, or even that they gave him a new drowsy medicine, it really helped.

2. Comfort: If it was from my friends, or my parents, it was important to me that people cared about how I was feeling. Of course it was hard on my dad, but I was depressed sometimes too.

3. Other parent: Another thing that mattered was my mom. I understood that the priority was to be with my dad, but if something happened like she was staying the night, at the hospital without me knowing beforehand, I was sad, and upset. It was very important that my mom kept me in the loop.

4: Talking with someone: It was important that I shared my feelings with somebody. It helped me feel better, and I could tell them that I feel upset.

5: Time to think:  I’m going to say that this one is a minor, but even so, I needed time to think by myself. Even if it was just for a few minutes. Just to not be bothered.

6: Talking with the sick parent: When my dad was sick, talking to him in person or on the phone even meant a lot. It is good to hear their voice.

7: Hospital visits: I wanted to visit as much as I could, because I liked knowing where he was staying, I could see his face.. All those things.

So these 7 things are what helped me, while my dad was sick. I hope they help you too.

Thanks for reading,

Jay


You might also find these posts helpful

A Patient's Top Ten Tips For Surviving A Hospital Stay

Caregiving Part 2- Who Cares For The Caregiver

Douglas Thompson  MSW LPC  (@DThompsonLPC) has written a follow up article to this, inspired by Jacob's post
called 5  Ways to help a child deal with a parent's mental Illness. It's well worth a read, with great suggestions!

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