September 10, 2003 - 1:55 p.m.

Put In My Place

There I was, thinking what a crappy day I was having - B's back at school, but M is home sick, I have had a persistent headache for the past two days, B gets home from school and immediately starts into the power struggles with me, the dog keeps getting into the trash, etc - when I read this. Boy, do I feel ashamed of myself now! I better quit my whining and remember how lucky I am!

Anat's sister's plight reminded me of watching all my little brother had to endure growing up. He was born with spinabifida and was actually in better shape than most kids with that severe a birth defect for a long time. But even though he could walk and run and play like a normal kid, he had plenty of problems to deal with. When he was really young he had a big mass of blood vessels on his back. Usually, the "tumor", as we called it, was hidden under his clothes, but whenever it showed, like anytime he went swimming, he had to face stares and taunts. I always admired how well he handled the teasing, especially since it took me a long time to learn to shrug off the much milder taunts I got for being short and cross-eyed.

Over the years he also had to endure quite a few hospital stays and countless painful medical procedures. Ultimately he ended up in a wheelchair, which tested his amazing optimism and courage almost to the breaking point.

It certainly wasn't easy watching my kid brother go through all of that, and I think it had a profound effect on me. Growing up has enough challenges as it is, and children with medical issues have so much more to deal with on a regular basis. I think my experiences with my brother were the early catalysts for my interest in becoming a Child Life Specialist. Undergoing medical treatment is an alien, often painful, and sometimes terrifying experience for kids. They need all the help they can get to cope with that experience, and, even more, to feel like "normal" kids. That's the basic job description of a CLS. They help kids by familiarizing them with medical equipment and procedures, arranging tutors so they can keep pace with their classmates, and finding ways for sick, hurt, or disabled kids to laugh, play, and have fun just like any other child. They, in conjunction with patients' families, are the advocates who can keep a child from becoming just another chart full of vitals and symptoms and medications. In the end, hopefully, they prevent the child from leaving the medical process with mental or emotional scars to go with the physical ones.

Someday I hope to be there for kids like Anat's sister and my brother. To smooth out some of the rough spots their conditions bring up so that they can concentrate on just being kids.

In the meantime, remind me to stop complaining about the tiny ups and downs in my life and start remembering how lucky I am!

today's project: putting it all in perspective

musing about: whether she'll get her wig.

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flutter back - fly ahead