Now You Can Talk To Your Child About Chronic Illness…
… of course, you already could. But Gretchen Rautman’s new book, My Secret (illustrated by Kathleen Schmiedeskamp), is a great tool to help you.
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I just finished reading My Secret, the story of a young girl with chronic headache. It’s not just about headache or migraine, it’s about chronic pain in general. It will encourage your child to talk about their pain, and to know they’re not alone.
The book also includes tips to help parents and others caring for children to know how to help.
I’m impressed with the book, so I want to get it out to those of you who have children with chronic pain, particularly migraine and headache. You can order the book on Amazon.
But even better — if you have a child with chronic pain, leave a comment below and write about your experiences. In one week from today I’ll choose 2 comments at random, and those two people will receive a free paperback copy of My Secret shipped to them directly.
More good news – all proceeds from the sale of this book go to the Migraine Research Foundation!
So get commenting, and be sure to tell your friends who have children with this challenge.
For more resources, start here: Children with Migraine, Children with Headache, Children with Cluster Headache
21 February 2011 @ 12:18 pm
Well, of my 4 children, one has type 1 diabetes. She has had it for 7 years now so we have been dealing with chronic illness in the family for a while. This year my 10yo son has developed daily headaches. He has had a headache every day for 4 months now. My remaining two children just have allergeis and eczema. Basically, we teach our kids that everybody has to deal with something. They are getting things early in life but at some point everyone has health or other issues to deal with. We know people who have had a lot worse things–a baby who lost an eye to cancer, an adult friend who had a lung transplant, and many more.
22 February 2011 @ 5:42 pm
i have 4 daughters. my oldest started getting migraines at age 12 (the same age i was when i started getting them) shes 14 now. my 11 yar old (12 in oct) has shown signs during her last coupple headaches that make us question if they are migraines. (her dr is leary to diagnose them as migrainges just yet) so far my youngest two 9yrs old & 5 yrs old thankfully have not started getting migraines yet but with the family history my mom , sister , and aunt all suffer from migraines i know its only a matter of time. we are doing our best to help the older two threw the pain & help the younger ones understand when they need to leave there sisters alone because of a migraine & try to help them understand migraines themselves
23 February 2011 @ 11:40 am
My 6-year old daughter who already deals with severe food allergies (peanuts, tree nuts and milk) has very recently started having severe and chronic headaches. I’ve had to pick her up from school several times in the last few weeks and bring her home. I have been suffering from severe and chronic migraine for years and it breaks my heart that I have passed this on to one of my daughters. Fortunately (?) she gets visual auras so we are able to treat her with pain medication and anti-nausea medication and have her lie down in a dark room, before the pain gets too bad. She has been such a trooper throughout the pain and testing. Just a few days ago she had her blood drawn and did not even bat an eyelash when she had 10 vials of blood removed from her, involving both her arms. Next up is an MRI at the end of the week. I’ve told her I wish I could take her pain and give it to myself. She is such a sweet soul and immediately says, “no mommy, I wish I could take your migraine pain and have it myself.” It seems so unfair that she has already had to deal with severe allergies and bullying at school because of them and now she is miserable some days because of her migraines. I’m hoping since we caught it early that she won’t have a lifetime of problems.–Jill (migraneur and migraine mom)
29 March 2011 @ 7:53 pm
Speaking as somebody who’s had migraines all my life, I can sympathize with your daughter, and now that I’m older, I can (to some extent) sympathize with you as the mother.
The good news is that I can give you to hold on to is that, unlike migraneurs who develop the pain later in life, your daughter doesn’t know “healthy”. This might seem sad, but it’s actually much easier to simply accept the migraine pain and lifestyle early in life, rather than be “normal” and then have the bomb dropped on you and your world turned upside down.
Good luck to both of you!
~Gretchen
26 February 2011 @ 11:47 am
My Son Has Chiari Malformation. He struggles with chronic pain and is awaiting decompression, which will mean more pain and the possibility it will not get better. It breaks my heart to know he is suffering!
26 February 2011 @ 3:23 pm
The stories of everyone here sound so similar. I personally know that dealing with chronic pain is hard enough for an adult, but I can’t imagine being a child and having to deal with constant, unrelenting pain. I have four daughters too and fortunately the oldest two suffer only occasionally. My third daughter has had Chronic Daily Migraine for four years now, and this past year we had to pull her out of school. She simply cannot handle the over-stimulating environment without an increase in her pain from moderate to severe. She has very little of her old “life” left – friends, activities, honors schoolwork, etc. She is so isolated, but her strength shies through everyday. I don’t know how she deals with it constantly. I don’t think I could be that strong. In the past year, her little sister has begun to experience frequent migraines as well. We are hoping it does not develop into the same constant daily pain the her sister does. I am praying for relief for both of them and for everyone else that is suffering like this.
28 February 2011 @ 11:37 am
Yikes! 4 years I can’t even imagine. My son has had a headache every day for four months but I can’t even imagine it going on for years. I would love to hear from you as to what you’ve tried. We don’t know anyone else in this situation and it is very frustrating.
1 March 2011 @ 12:09 am
Sure Roberta!
I would love to talk to you about this. I have found very few parents of kids with chronic migraines, but I have found a few. They’ve passed on ideas to me as well, so I would be happy to share what we’ve tried so far and what we are thinking about next.
Are you on Facebook? If not, I’d recommend joining. I have found information and resources there and I can recommend some pages for you.
You can find me on Facebook easily – just search Kate Kopasz (Kathryn Campbell Kopasz) and friend me and/or send me a message.
Or my e-mail is kopasz@att.net (but I have so much junk coming there sometimes I miss things. I’d really like to find or start a parent support group somehow.
If you don’t have luck either of those ways – let me know your contact info and we can try to connect that way.
It’lll be much easier than commenting back and forth here.
My Grace has had migraines since age 4 but one day ate age 12 (2007) they turned chronic. We have tried a LOT, and I can probably share something you have’t heard yet. I’d be very interested to hear what you have tried so far for your son.
Do you mind if I ask what area you live in? I’m in the suburbs of Chicago.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Kate
1 March 2011 @ 12:29 pm
Thanks! I sent you an e-mail.
29 March 2011 @ 7:59 pm
To All:
I’m thrilled to see that my book’s being received well, and is helping you and yours. That is just so awesome, as that is exactly the reason I decided to share ‘My Secret’ with the world.
~Gretchen
29 March 2016 @ 4:56 pm
Gretchen, what a great idea. I have suffered from migraines since childhood. There was no treatment when I was a child. I would lie in bed screaming with one triggered by sunlight, heat, chocolate, exhaustion, being around too many people, too much excitement, stress, Christmas Eve, family events, playing outside, riding a horse in the sun, etc. Mom eventually called the doctor who would come to the house and give me an injection to knock me out, but only after I begged and screamed for hours. Now there is Imitrex plus a pain med which helps because, thank God, I get an aura to warn me. I’m able to work because they rarely come in clusters and when they do I work anyway. Luckily, the kind of work I do allows me to turn off the lights, shut the door, and just show up. My secretary’s daughter has migraines so she covers for me on those rare days. Yes, after menopause it got better. Bless you for writing this book for children. I know you have suffered.
29 March 2016 @ 4:59 pm
Let me add, the imitrex doesn’t eliminate, only dulls the headache. And they are daily for weeks at a time during Spring and Fall. But I do not suffer as many do for which I am grateful.