Teens with Chronic Illness: Through their Eyes
Teens with Chronic Illness: Through Their Eyes -- Shanice's kidneys have failed; Vanessa suffers the pain of sickle cell disease; Precious spends her life in a wheelchair, the result of Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Their young lives are filled with responsibilities and challenges that many of us would consider insurmountable, but these teens face them and move on. They have significant life lessons to teach us, and extraordinary stories to tell. To help tell them, Keeping Kids Healthy introduces a new feature: "Through Their Eyes," a video journey through the day of one of these teens, told through her words, her video photography, and her perspective. Join host Dr. Winnie King, five formidable young people, and a doctor and a counselor who support them, for a story and a program you'll never forget.
To order a copy of this show, please click here.
Guests:
Henry Adam, MD
Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Pediatrician, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
Pediatrics / Board Certified
Arlene Goldsmith, PhD
Executive Director, New Alternatives for Children (NAC)
Author, Those Children Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leader, 1994
Recipient, Lewis Hine Award
Kelly Huegel - Author, Young People and Chronic Illness
Shanice Figeureux - Teen with Kidney Failure
Precious Feliciano - Teen with Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Vennesa Adams - Teen with Sickle Cell Disease
Kenny Tyler - Teen with Kidney Failure
Tips:
How Kids (with and without Chronic Illness) Can Make the Most of Their Doctor Appointments
- Communicate openly about your symptoms, side effects and concerns
- Write things down, and ask questions
- Don’t be afraid to interrupt – just be polite about it
- If you’re upset about your illness, talk to your doctor. Hiding your feelings will only make you feel worse.
Tips for Kids with Chronic Illness
Selected from the book, Young People and Chronic Illness, by Kelly Huegel
- Face your Fears - The diagnosis of a chronic illness can be scary.
Control your fears by learning some basic facts about the illness. - Be Good to Yourself – Accept that you won’t do everything right, and cut yourself some slack!
- Know your limits - There's a difference between knowing your limits and limiting yourself. When you limit yourself, you hold yourself back from doing things that you really want to do. When you know your limits and respect them you're taking an active role in managing your illness.
- Focus on what you can do - Look for ways to excel. What are
your strengths or talents? Get involved in activities that allow
you to explore your interests. When you focus on what you
can do, you'll have a better chance of staying positive and of
bouncing back when things don't go your way. - Keep a journal - You'll be surprised at how good you will feel after writing your thoughts on paper. You don't have to limit your writings to how you feel about your illness. Describe anything, friends, daydreams, romantic interests, memories etc.
Resources:
Web Sites:
New Alternatives for Children
http://www.nac-inc.org/
Association for the Care of Children’s Health
http://www.acch.org/
Starbright Foundation
http://www.starbright.org/
The Magic Foundation
http://www.magicfoundation.org/Books:
Young People and Chronic Illness by Kelly Huegel
