My daughter's MDO teacher's son just got diagnosed with Leukemia this weekend. We have already collected gift cards to help off set the cost of prescriptions, groceries, gas, etc. But we would like to do more, but we aren't sure what and we don't want to be to overbearing with our help. Has anyone been in this position or had a child with a serious illness? What would you have wanted or needed to help you through this time?
I forgot to mention that meals have already been provide and a schedule has been set up to provide meals on Chemo days.
I haven't been through this and hope I never do (or anyone else for that matter).
I would think an occasional cooked meal or house cleaning would be wonderful.
Hi V., when a friend of ours son was dx with leukemia, every boy in his entire class had their heads shaved while he was in Chemo. This was offered free of charge by a Mom in the class who was a hair dresser. She did not expect such a huge response, but every boy and every family in his class came through. They surprised him on picture day. The yearbook shows all the shaved heads, which is a beautiful thing since the boy passed away a few months later.
Bless you and your generous heart, strength to the family.
:)
I would just make sure the other kids invite the boy to social gatherings and would definitely treat him and all his family as "normal" as possible. Being reminded constantly that you have an illness must be pretty bothersome, so I would also avoid "pity looks" and such. Just try to make them feel involved socially and lend an helping hand with practical things (errands etc..) if the mom is busy with taking the kid to theraphy or can't take care of the house, yard etc....7 y.o. boy will make it, he HAS to! My prayers to him and all suffering children in the world.
Our middle son has a complex congenital heart defect. When he was born we were in the hospital/Ronald MacDonald House for a month. We had some support (my mom was here taking care of our oldest, so we really didn't need much). The ideas of meals, gas cards, and gift cards are great. Do they have other children or pets? They might need help with that. How about light housekeeping (vacuum, laundry, dishes, mop floor) or bringing food to hospital--hospital cafeteria food gets old. Best of luck for the little guy!
What about a setting to have a family picture taken? Something they can cherrish when they need it the most.
errands pay bills go to the grocery store if needed. when my dad had cancer I couldnt keep up with my errands his errands my groceries his groceries feeding his dogs mowing his lawn laundry was excessive due to the vomiting take the other kids for a day or two if there is other kids especially on chemo day when they will have to focus all of their energy on him. visitors do wonders just visit they cant get out to socialize and visitors are more than needed. help grade papers.insurance calls doctor calls are all excessive with any cancer I had to go by dads at least once a day to see if he needed anything he would hand me wrote out checks and his bills or tell me to call the doc for him he couldnt talk. they will be continously driving to doc appts. eat out cards would help finacially and gas cards. if they dont have a cell phone get them a prepaid. if they do have a prepaid buy them time. you may feel your overbearing with your help but they cant get enough help in times like this
My friend's 8 year old son is battling cancer too. What my friend found most helpful was people who listened to his words. It was comforting to the family to know everyone was behind them and was REALLY available (not just said they were and were not) to help at a moments notice, such as pick up their other son, walk the dog, get the mail, etc. It seemed as though he had a team of people around the clock to lend a hand. The other thing was the visits, before the transplant, in the hospital. They really helped the family.
Another HUGE thing for them was all of the friends and family who organized a team for a Leukemia Walk. Kind of like the Susan B. Kolman 3 day walk. About 100 people walked for Team Jake (his son) and through donations from the walkers and those of us out of state they raised over $48,000 for research. Local restaurants came up with special menu items (Jake the Snake burger and Chase (his twin) the Ace Fries) and donated all the proceeds from each order to the leukemia research in his name. Another thing a local toy shop did was have a Jake the Snake toy drive where they collected toys (and also donated) to give to Jake to distribute to the other kids in the hospital who where also "living" there during treatment.. They were fortunate they are financially set and have health insurance to cover the costs.
I could go on and on. If you would like more, please send me a message.
I hope these ideas help.
Such a sad situation and my heart goes out to then entire family.
As for support my only thing to draw on was my 12 weeks on bedrest. Lots of people would say "call if you need anything" but I found that awkward. I really appreciated when people took the initiative to tell me when they were coming and what they were doing. For example, I want to come clean your house and walk your dog for you. Would Thurs or Fri be better? That way I still had choice in the matter but didn't have to call people. You may not have a close enough relationship to do that though.
Another thing that was nice was magazines. We had a very stressful situation and I found that I couldn't concentrate on books yet still needed something to pass the time. Magazines worked great.
I love the idea that someone gave about pictures of the family. Also, maybe some fun things that the little boy can do when he doesn't feel well like books or lego's to play in bed.
