My Family Experienced A Significant Health Crisis

My story isn't quite special really, although I have lived under some unique circumstances. My mother was a single parent raising my little sister and I until she married my Stepdad in 2007. I was five at the time and had no father figure until then. From that time on he became my dad. Our new family moved twice before living in a small city where we stayed for 6 years. This is where I made close friends, achieved academic excellence, went to church regularly, life was great or so I thought. What seemed to be our perfect life was turned upside down as hard times fell upon us. I was now the oldest of five younger siblings, my mom wasn't healthy, and my dad had to struggle to keep things going.

My grandmother became her primary caretaker, and after my birth, my primary caregiver. Pregnancy and childbirth greatly exacerbated my mother’s illness due to hormone levels and stress, so she was almost entirely incapacitated for the first few months of my life. This created additional responsibility in caring for me for my grandmother, and my aunt. As I grew older, my mother’s weakened immune system made it unsafe for me to stay in the house if I were sick, causing me to stay with my aunt frequently while getting over the flu or other childhood illnesses. This elevated her responsibility from an extended family member to a parent like figure. I also experienced different responsibilities from other children my age as I got older. For example, at age seven I began giving my mother the injections she needed every other day because after being allowed to try it once, it was found that I was able to do it more painlessly than my grandmother. Things like unloading my mother’s wheelchair, walker or scooter, and assembling it became second nature. I think my family would have felt less strain if we had had a greater support system outside of our family. While family involvement is essential in the success and wellness of a chronically ill person, outside support is essential for the

Everything is perfectly fine, everything is great, then one day it all comes crashing down and shattered pieces are left. My life would never be the same but I guess change is for the best and it forced me to become the person I am today. It’s rough to be the oldest child, especially when your mom is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and you have 3 younger sisters that look to you for comfort when their mom can’t be there. When the cancer is spread throughout your moms body doctors can’t just get rid of it no matter how badly you wish they could. Rounds of chemotherapy only slow it down, yet it’s still there a lurking monster waiting to reappear at any given moment. Nothing can even begin to describe the fear I felt, and still have to deal

Family as system is the third approach which focuses the whole family as the client pg (10). The way the families interact with each other will have influence on the nursing intervention (pg 10). There was a female patient that was diagnosed with terminal cancer in her mid-thirties. She was married with two children. When her two teenaged children found out the cancer was terminal, they broke into tears. The husband was in denial. He could not come to terms with the fact that his young wife had a couple months to live. I had to wait on the family interactions before deciding which nursing intervention to choose. I played the councelor role to the family so they can express their feelings. The husband was able to accept her diagnosis and he was her caregiver at home during her last couple of months.

Issues in life involve having to watch your son being killed on stage. When Harrison thought he could be himself and take control by removing his weights. These issues involve my family when we were at the hospital and my grandpa passes away in our eyes. Then there is physical and mental issues. Hazel was a pain with her emotional issues. She had an average mind which made her cry then laugh. My family is similar because we have an grandmother who is an emotional wreck but loves us to death. Lastly, there is having to pay bills. My parents have a hard time when it come to paying bills during a certain time of months. This case is way different from my family because they have an average life, meaning their bills

My mom had to take my uncle Raymond to radiation every day for about 3 months, now she has to take him every three months, which affected her daily routine and how she planned her day. She also takes care of him a lot although he isn’t in the hospital or anything he isn’t very ill yet but from what I know I’m sure he will get sick. My uncle David was in his home when he passed away because he was on hospice, this effected everyone who lived in the house. When my uncle David passed away it was a very emotional time for the whole family, however it was kind of a happy moment as well because we knew he wasn’t suffering any more. My uncle David saw all his brothers and sisters before he passed some say that he was waiting to see them all before he said goodbye which could be true. Every person in a family who loses a family member has to deal with the emotional state of each other, some family members can handle death better than others so they are the strong ones in the situation. Cancer effects the whole family not just the patient.

In 2011, my brother was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis which affected my entire family including myself. He went through many surgeries, many of which made it quite impossible for me to see him given that I was only 11 years old, and everything on that level in that hospital was contagious. Throughout, this period in my life my mother was always busy and I learned to slowly do my things on my own. Although it sounds crucial, I didn’t expect much from my mother given that she basically lived in the hospital. I fell into depression because my brother was my best friend and I couldn’t accept that he was in so much pain. I learned to overcome depression and slowly learned that life shouldn’t be taken for granted and I should believe in myself.

A hardship that my family and I faced was my mother being placed on disability. When I was four years old, she stepped off a ladder wrong and slipped a disk in her back. To repair the disk, it required multiple surgeries. As a result, she is still on disability. During this time, my father was the main breadwinner in our house, so money was sometimes a tough thing to come by. On top of my mother’s medical issues, I have my own medical issues. I have always had some minor issues, but in the last couple of years they have started to become more serious. During my senior year, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. This syndrome is chronic and so are some of the other issues that comes with it. Now that I am currently enrolled in college,

involves giving support to the family. It begins when illness is diagnosed, and continues regardless of whether

Deportation continues to reach all-time highs in our nation. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records, 72,410 people deported in 2013 said they had one or more U.S.-born children. Of those, 39,410 appear reported in the first half of the calendar year 2013 and the remaining 33,000 in the second half. In other words, in one year alone, many thousands of U.S.-citizen kids are separated from at least one parent (Cantor, 2014). Deporting family members can cause trauma to family and may violate 1990 child abuse. Separation from family members can cause undue trauma to children and may violate the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. Separation of adult family members during the deportation process has also shown

When a person is in a state of crisis it is hard enough to deal with, but when you add family into the equation it can be even more difficult. Having family members around while you are having a crisis should be a good thing as there is support and understanding, yet things can turn sour. Family members themselves can become part of the problem instead of being a support system. Some of the reasoning behind this is because often times family members get caught up in the excitement of it all and get stressed themselves instead of remaining calm and being the strong structured person that one in a crisis needs. The crisis’ may vary from time to time so the levels of support will also need to differ. As a support system, family members need to recognize this and be able to respond appropriately. To be

Thanks for sharing your story. I believe when people go through things together it makes them stronger and their bond develops more. When a family can come together and solve things this is a wonderful thing to have. I see so many dysfunctional families and it breaks my heart. I wish there was a magic pill to fix this issue, but sadly there is not. Some people wait till a family member passes to turn things around, but why wait till then? I say fix the problem now before it is to late.

When my dad had Cardiomegaly which is the enlargement of the heart he could’ve died any day if it went untreated. During this time my whole family was a mess my mom was crying most days worrying herself to death about everything that could

I am a student perusing bachelors degree on Accounting in Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri. After the massive earthquake on April 2015, my family has felt the significant downfall in their income. My mother who is a single parent supports the majority of my family spending. Lately, she has been working hard to cope up with this financial loss. However, the economic blockade and current political condition has worsen the situation. My mother has to spend most of her income for my tuition fee and it is difficult for her to manage the fund. If I could have my application fees waived, this could be a great help for me and my mother. I have also attached a document from local municipality which verifies the financial hardship of my

Adaptation and coping with illness is a process that not only affects the patient, thus, has an overwhelming effect on the family system (Friedman, Bowden, & Jones 2003). Like you, I went through a similar experience with my mother in 2010 when she was diagnosed with end-stage pancreatic cancer. The diagnosis was devastating, not to mention, the burden of dealing with each individual family member's emotions, as my mother was the center of our family unit. Many family discussions were addressed, with my mother having the last say in the matter. Her decision was to receive hospice care at home, with family members taking turns in providing direct care as much as possible. The situation was physically and emotionally shattering, yet, we (the