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Old Mon Feb 20, 2012, 11:45 PM
IhaveAA.AAdoesnothaveme IhaveAA.AAdoesnothaveme is offline
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Guelph
Posts: 8
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I am sorry about the diagnosis, I am 15 and went through this last summer.

Going into transplant I was freaked out! I didn't want to feel isolated from the outside and come out as some freak who just disappeared from the earth for a few months! I was also so scared that my friends would just move on, not even thinking about me after a week or two but, I expressed these feelings to the hospital staff and they gave me some great feedback, here are some of the things that kept me going in the hospital:

My cell phone was my best friend, my friends texted me all the time. I know your daughter might not have on at her age but I think that even using yours to text a friends parents and hear a few words from a best friend or something will make her day. I found that using skype and iChat really helped too, I got to stay in touch with all my friends just like I was there with them. If they don't have wifi I would recommend trying to get internet on your phone or a USB that provides internet so that she can skype with friends when she wants. If not, movies are fine too. I watched more movies when I was in the hospital than I probably had in total before. I even used to go "shopping" on the internet.... I would go on sites of the stores that I used to like and look at their clothes. Every girl needs their retail therapy! I would definitely recommend doing your best for internet as it really helped me pass the days. I don't know what her thoughts on school were but even though my transplant was in the summer I did do some school on line. Education is very important to me and I thought that I could get a head start when I was feeling okay. I think that having these goals but not the pressure to have deadlines really saved me. I know that in at her age you can't do it online but even just doing a few things in her best or favourite subject is a good idea. I also found that when I started doing other school work when I came home this gave me less work to do at once and it was less overwhelming. Just stay in touch with her teachers, trust me they won`t be mad if she doesn`t do it, just have it there in case of boredom or want!

My sibling went through some jealousy problems (which I just recently found out about) so, my mom spend at least one night a week alone with him making sure that they felt as special as possible. She would take him out to the movies or something and make it all about them. Another thing we did since my neices and nephews and youngest brother couldn't visit is that we would all watch the same movie and then all talk about it later on skype. We did it instead of a family night since we weren't all together. The childlife specialist really helped my family and I through this so I really recommend getting in touch with them now. Goodluck to your little one, if I can do it she can too!
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