Nat and Dan are official members of SuperSibs. Today, SuperSibs sent them a book called Hi, My Name is Jack (A Book for the Healthy Siblings of Chronically Ill Children).
Matt read the book aloud to the kids, and got to the page with these words:
"Having a sister that is sick is sometimes hard for me. I bet it is hard for you sometimes, if you have a brother or a sister or a friend who is sick."
Matt: Is it hard for you that Eve is sick?
Natalie: No, it's not hard for me. It's hard for Eve!
That's a good thing to remember. I don't want to let cancer define who I am as a person. Eve was dealt a crappy hand; it's my job to support her. It's hard for HER, but maybe I can make it easier. Afterall, I control the Dum Dums.
Showing posts with label supersibs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supersibs. Show all posts
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The C Word
First things first--- Eve had a wonderful weekend. Absolutely nothing to complain about. She even let me give her medicine today! We look at her and think, this child has cancer???
If Matt and I weren't aware of what the word oncology meant, we wouldn't have known Eve had cancer until two days after we were admitted to the hospital. No one spoke the C word. No one. There was lots of talk of chemotherapy, tumors, the Children's Oncology Group...but it wasn't until that Sunday evening that one of the doctors used the word "cancer." Not that we were in denial of what was going on, but hearing the word for the first time kind of knocks the wind out of you.
Now two weeks into this, we can make tacky jokes around our house. "Give her some chocolate milk...she has CANCER!" "Cancer trumps swine flu!" "She has cancer; don't make her sit in time out. Daniel will get over her kicking him in the head."
Natalie and Daniel are now officially card-carrying members of SuperSibs! It's a cool program for siblings of cancer patients. They receive things in the mail throughout the year. Their first packages came with coloring books, tattoos, bracelets (think Lance Armstrong), and membership cards with their names on them. The best thing in the packages were the "How I'm Feeling Today" magnets. The kids can put a special magnet frame over the face that best describes how they are feeling. Natalie likes the face with the tongue sticking out, so she decides she is also feeling "overwhelmed." Daniel says he doesn't feel anything, which I take to mean he is numb. Hopefully it is comfortable.
If Matt and I weren't aware of what the word oncology meant, we wouldn't have known Eve had cancer until two days after we were admitted to the hospital. No one spoke the C word. No one. There was lots of talk of chemotherapy, tumors, the Children's Oncology Group...but it wasn't until that Sunday evening that one of the doctors used the word "cancer." Not that we were in denial of what was going on, but hearing the word for the first time kind of knocks the wind out of you.
Now two weeks into this, we can make tacky jokes around our house. "Give her some chocolate milk...she has CANCER!" "Cancer trumps swine flu!" "She has cancer; don't make her sit in time out. Daniel will get over her kicking him in the head."
Natalie and Daniel are now officially card-carrying members of SuperSibs! It's a cool program for siblings of cancer patients. They receive things in the mail throughout the year. Their first packages came with coloring books, tattoos, bracelets (think Lance Armstrong), and membership cards with their names on them. The best thing in the packages were the "How I'm Feeling Today" magnets. The kids can put a special magnet frame over the face that best describes how they are feeling. Natalie likes the face with the tongue sticking out, so she decides she is also feeling "overwhelmed." Daniel says he doesn't feel anything, which I take to mean he is numb. Hopefully it is comfortable.
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