The following extracts will hopefully be helpful to parents, families, friends and caregivers.
The introduction familiarizes readers with the background, intention, and organization of the book.
Extracts from Part 1, On Treatment, includes suggestions on how parents can take care of themselves in the hospital; outlines common financial stressors for families and ways parents can seek help, outlines stresses, challenges, and ways to help 1) 6 to 11-year-olds 2) the other children in the family. The final extract from Part 1 describes signs and behaviors in family members that suggest a consultation with a psychosocial clinician might be useful.
Extracts from Part 2, Survivorship, focus on challenges for parents that may occur as a child who has endured a serious childhood condition moves towards adulthood. One extract discusses varying psychological effects that can occur for survivors, another extract looks at a range of long-term effects on the family. One extract discusses how parents can encourage the survivor to gradually take over responsibility for their own medical care. Another extract discusses how to cultivate attitudes that may help cope with the long-term stresses that can occur.
The last set of extracts are from Part 3 When Treatment Does Not Work. Extracts describe varying reactions parents can have initially and over time. Another extract highlights behavior in parents that signals it is imperative for family members or caregivers to seek help. Other extracts suggest how to support the other children in the family, how to gradually communicate bad news, and how different styles may produce more or less open communication but be what that particular family requires to cope with the situation. Another extract tells the stories of four adolescents who approached their deaths in very different ways that suited their particular styles. The final extract includes suggestions made by other bereaved parents that helped them endure the terrible time after their child died.