May 10, 2011

They Go Together Like Childhood Cancer And Parental PTSD

So this Boston Herald story is not one of those, "Oh no, nothing worse than finding out the baby has cancer" stories after all. Its' about the inevitably worse stuff that happens because the kid has cancer, and the parents and families go through emotional, psychological, and sometimes legal hell dealing with it.

And then in the sidebar, where I barely managed to read it, is the 2004 study that showed that five years after a kid goes through cancer treatment, basically 100% of families have at least one parent with [largely undiagnosed] PTSD.

Pray for anyone whose kid has a serious illness, but also make sure they are getting some professional help themselves, because holy smokes, people.

When healing hurts
As a child undergoes treatments for a serious illness, parents may suffer, too -- with fear, guilt, and depression
[boston.com via dt bummin' me the hell out senior correspondent sara]

2 Comments

Thanks for sharing this reminder.

A close coworker of mine lost a 12 year old son to cancer a few years ago and she is still haunted by the tragedy. Having been through numerous medical treatments myself at a young age I can barely fathom how terrifying and scarring the entire process can be when it comes to serious illness.

I wonder if I asked my parents now if what they went through before I was diagnosed has lingering effects...

Thanks for posting this! I was diagnosed with leukemia at 24 weeks during pregnancy. I started chemo at 25 weeks and delivered a 2lb, 2oz daughter at 29 weeks. Our family is still dealing with PTSD from the ordeal. So many people are unaware of the long term emotional effects a serious illness causes in a family.

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