Class Helps Families Cope with Medical Challenges
November 14, 2005 | General Health
When children live with a chronic medical condition, their parents face enormous challenges, too. Whether it’s a mental illness or a physical one, parents end up managing their child’s health along with taking care of normal family needs.
In so many ways, 7-year-old Madeleine Murakami is a typical kid, bright and energetic. But she and her parents have an extraordinary challenge before them.
“Almost on a daily basis we have to evaluate her medical condition,” said her father, Rich Murakami. “Is she tired or is something underlying going on?”
When she was just five weeks old, Madeleine was diagnosed with a life-threatening liver disease. A transplant saved her life. Since that day, her family’s life has revolved around keeping her new liver healthy.
“Throughout the day we have a schedule of medicines and we have to carry this with us every day,” Rich said.
When Madeleine gets a cold or runs a fever, it can easily turn into an eight- hour ordeal in the emergency room with thousands of dollars in medical bills.
“Our relationships change a lot because we get flooded and overloaded, so you can’t call people back right away and it’s hard for me to hold a job because I have to drop everything at the drop of a hat,” her mother Karen said.
Researchers at the University of Washington School of Nursing and Children’s Hospital are helping the Murakamis and other families learn coping strategies in a special class.
“They meet parents of children who have diabetes arthritis and cancer and what they find out is all of them have similar questions, similar challenges and similar feelings and it’s important for them to know they are not alone,” said Nanci Villareale of Children’s Hospital. “Despite expert medical care, there are issues that don’t get addressed that they deal with everyday with a child who has a chronic condition.”
The class is called “Building on Family Strengths” for good reason. Whether it’s parenting issues or other issues, parents of special needs children can learn from the experts and from one another.
The hope is it will decrease isolation and depression, and even lower medical expenses.
The seven-week class is part of a study to determine what tools are most helpful for these parents. It is offered for free in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.
Researchers hope linking family meals to better grades and staying drug free will encourage parents to make dinner an essential part of the day.
Some tips? Keep the meals simple, cook together and turn off the television and talk to one another.