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From the Prologue . . . Many of life's challenges bring us stress and grief. The purpose of this book is to first help you recognize and confront these challenges. Then help you identify steps to better cope and ultimately resolve grief and find wholeness.
The grief reaction is often similar for many diverse circumstances and situations. Although most of this book can help anyone through any type of loss, the book focuses heavily on caring for children with disabilities, chronic or terminal illness, dealing with the loss, and the recovery process.
In chapter one we introduce ourselves and discuss many of our past losses. We also illustrate how the accumulative effect of several challenges can make life seem difficult. In chapter two we discuss our struggle dealing with the loss we felt when our son, Cameron, received his diagnosis of a disability/chronic illness. We discuss anticipatory grief and the loss felt during the diagnosis process, additional focus on grief and steps to recovery are covered in chapters five and six. Chapter three offers practical home care suggestions for those caring for a child at home during chronic, terminal illness, or with disabilities. This chapter also provides information concerning educational and medical assistance. Chapter four discusses ways we found to build our own and our child's self-esteem and self-worth. Chapter five and six address the grief process and self help tools for recovery. In addition we discuss helpful ways we discovered to manage our stress. Chapter seven discusses other's reactions to our grief and offers ideas for improving relationships. It includes suggestions for couples, family, siblings, friends, and relatives. Chapter eight offers thoughts on the role of spiritual healing and finding personal wholeness. A summary of Near Death research is shared and how we found ultimate peace and understanding.
Although I have compiled our material and written most of this book, I have relied heavily on my husband, Dennis. His professional expertise and experience, resource material, editing, and support have been very valuable. And of course without Cameron's life and death, the book would never be!
