observed a family affect the health of its individual members in ONE of the following six stages of health/illness:

Write a discussion post following the rubric attached and directions attached. ALSO reply to one of the discussion post below following rubric

Discussion POST 1 BY KRISTEN- WRITE A REPLY USING THE RUBRIC.

In our course textbook, Friedman, Bowden, & Jones (2003) state, “An illness within the family affects the whole family and its interactions . . .” (Friedman, Bowden, & Jones, 2003, p 6). I feel this is profoundly true when the illness affects a child. A dear friend and coworker of mine faced a very tumultuous divorce 4 years ago following the birth of her son and rapid demise of her relationship with her husband. For the sake of the posting I will refer to them as Angie and Rob. In the years that followed the divorce, both Angie and Rob had moved on to other relationships, Rob—getting married around the 3 year anniversary of the divorce, and Angie—becoming engaged to a critical care nurse practitioner she met at grad school. Even though they shared 50/50 placement of their child, things were incredibly contentious between the two. Then, the unthinkable happened. Their beautiful 4 year old son was diagnosed with a very rare retinoblastoma. The odds of him beating this particular strain were not stacked in his favor. Given the fact that Angie and Rob were so incredibly devoted to their son, they knew they were both going to be involved every step of the way. However, given their antagonistic history, they were unsure of how to navigate the rough waters of surgery and treatments without letting selfish emotion get in the way. A wonderful group of nurses and counselors saw this tension and came to the aid of the entire family by offering guidance and counseling to help both sets of parents communicate efficiently and effectively for the sake of their son. I am very proud of what my dear friend has accomplished in the last year. Both sets of parents have grown close, strong, and are all actively participating in the care of their son. They attend doctor’s visits and treatments together, and even get together outside the healthcare setting for family time with their son. And as far as the cancer goes, after completing 3 major surgeries, 3 months of radiation therapy, and 9 months of chemotherapy, he was recently declared cancer free! Friedman states, “Families then play an important supportive role during the course of convalescence and rehabilitation. In the absence of this support, the success of convalescence/rehabilitation decreased significantly” (Friedman, et al., 2003, p 9). Had they not received the support and guidance from the Children’s hospital team to rebuild their relationship on a new foundation, I shudder to think what the outcome may have looked like for this sweet boy. The adaptability this family has shown in the face of tragedy shines as a great example of how, with the support family, one can overcome illness even if the odds are not in their favor.

References

Friedman, M. M., Bowden, V. R., & Jones, E. G. (2003). Family nursing: Research, theory, and practice (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Discussion Post 2 DAVID- Reply

David Saffell

Source of Beliefs and Behaviors

March 7, 2018

Adaptation to illness and recovery is a stage where outside medical help is solicited in helping families to cope with the stress of caring for a sick family member. “The presence of a serious, chronic illness in one family member usually has a profound impact on the family system, especially in its role functions and carrying out of family functions.” (Friedman, 9) For example, my daughter was in an accident at the age of fifteen, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury and subsequent stroke. As a result, she spent two years in recovery, one of which was at an outpatient clinic an hour away seven hours a day, five days a week. Having a twelve year old at the time resulted in a role reversal of Cory taking on the role of big sister while Morgan became dependent on assistance from all family members to perform basic functions such as eating and bathing. While I worked additional hours to pay for mounting medical expenses, my wife became the primary caregiver to both girls. We received counseling both together as a family and individually by a brain injury specialist as well as phone conversations monthly with an insurance case manager to assist us in finding outside specialist to meet Morgan’s physical needs. The three healthy members of the family were the primary, and at times, the only support for Morgan’s recovery. Cory would cut Morgan’s food and assist her in bathing. My wife diligently did vision therapy exercises every evening, sat through meetings regarding her progress, as well as taking her to outside appointments for Botox injections and hemiplegic migraine prevention. I worked odd shifts in order to drive Morgan to CNS as often as I could. Morgan had complete support from her immediate family members, which allowed her to achieve a full recovery and subsequent normal life.

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