Long term illness

One of a series of leaflets published by The Compassionate Friends We all wish that our children will live long, healthy and happy lives. As parents we want the best for them and do all that we can to make this happen. However, not everything is within our control. It is an immense shock to discover that our child has a life-threatening illness, whether it is cancer or any other condition. We find ourselves thrust into a new and frightening world. We are forced to see them suffer pain and distress. Ultimately, we are powerless in our struggle to keep them alive. When their life ends, we are worn down by the battle with their illness. We have few resources left to sustain us on our journey through grief and loss. When did it all begin? Some of us knew from the birth, or soon after, that our child was suffering from a terminal illness, and that our time together was likely to be limited. Others of us enjoyed years of our child’s good health before illness and eventual diagnosis came as a dreadful shock. Either way, we learned to structure our lives around the fact that the unthinkable could happen – our child might die before us. Most of us, looking back, feel that a part of us began to grieve when we received the initial diagnosis. Even as we prepared to fight for our child’s life, there came a point when we realised that they might die. We began to live under the shadow of that knowledge. When our child has died of a long term illness