For Brothers, Sisters, and Close Family Members
Hi! Welcome to the Kansas Kids Connection! We are glad you came for
a visit. You may have recently learned that your brother or sister has a chronic illness,
or maybe your brother
or sister has had a chronic illness for a long
time.
There are many different kinds of chronic illnesses. Some of them
are cancer, cystic fibrosis, asthma, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis,
diabetes, lupus and many more. Even though there are many chronic illnesses
that
a brother or sister may have, there are some things that siblings of
kids with chronic illnesses have in common. Lots of siblings of kids
with chronic illness tell us that there are both good things and difficult
things about being the sibling of a kid who is sick a lot.
Feelings
Some kids
feel angry, others feel sad. Some kids feel like it is their fault
that their brother or sister is sick. Still others feel jealous of
all the
attention that their brother or sister gets because they are sick.
All of these feelings are very normal. We expect you to have a lot
of different
feelings when you have a sibling with a chronic illness.
The important
thing is that you find a grown up to whom you can talk about your
feelings. It might be your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, a
neighbor or
a teacher who you feel most comfortable talking to about your feelings.
You are important, too
You are a very important person, too, and you need to take care
of yourself, in addition to your brother or sister. Part of taking
care of yourself
is talking to someone about how you feel and what you need.
You will find more information on this site about chronic illnesses (see list of
Diagnoses), information for young children
and teenagers and lots of other interesting
things. Have fun looking
around and learning more about chronic illnesses. Please write to us
and let us know what else you would like to see on this site. Come back
often!
For more information, please contact:
Kathy Davis, MSEd, PhD
kdavis2@kumc.edu
(913) 588-6305