How to Help Children Through a Parent's Serious Illness

My husband was diagnosed with cancer when our daughter was just 9 months old. We are a little over 2 years into our struggle with his illness. I found McCue and Bonn's book immensly helpful at this difficult time. It covers everything from diagnosis, to coming home from the hospital or, God forbid, the parent's death. It also covers long term illnesses. The book is filled with practical advice. If you are struggling with a very sick parent (or other loved one) in your family right now, you need all the help you can get. After reading this book, I feel like I have the tools to help my daughter through this process whatever the outcome might be. It was incredibly helpful.

This book is a tremendous resource for families who are facing serious illness and approaching death. The book gave me helpful advice on when to seek counseling help for my children, signals of depression and failure to cope in children, how to explain about hereditary diseases, and how to help children prepare to visit the hospital. In my own situation, my husband has a progressive muscular disease that has affected his lung/breathing processes. This disease can result in immediate death and I felt that my children needed to be prepared for that. I actually handled my chidlren's first trip to the hospital badly and they both reacted negatively--I wish I would have had this resource then! From time to time I refer back to this helpful book whenever a new situation arises and after reading it, I feel that I have a better understanding of how children see an illness, how they react to it, and how to explain it to them. I'd really like to see a sequel to it that goes into areas such as what to do when the kids are in denial and don't want to know; dealing with relatives who disagree with the methods chosen on helping the child deal with the illness, and how to handle emergencies that happen at home with the ill parent. In any case, this book is a necessity for families!

How to Help Children Through a Parent's Serious Illness is a wondeful resource for professional and home use! There are so many books designed to help children and parents with a child's illness but practically nothing available to help the children of adult patients deal with an adult illness, accident, or death. Kathleen and Ron are skillful and concise in sharing dozens of pointers and case examples that will help any adult in this situation. I work in a hospital and refer to the book often. We've shared it with nurses and doctors-all have found it "right on target". I know it would be a wonderful resource for use at home too. Two thumbs up to Kathleen and Ron for filling a big gap!