letters band-aides...

More letters! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been a teacher for 15 years, but it has been at least 7 years since I have taught Special Ed. I have been going crazy trying to find resources to help get me catch up on the different medical conditions. Your website is absolutely wonderful!! It has so many resources in one place. I have shared it with the other teachers in my district and with my Special Ed Director...I can only imagine how much time it took you to compile the resources! So thank you again! You have saved me many hours of frustration. I have just discovered your website whilst at work in London, England. I wanted to let you know that your website was a source of inspiration to me...It really was wonderful to see such energy and passion gone into this and I am so inspired by you and through you. Many thanks, keep up the good work. Stumbled upon your site by accident. It is a wonderful site. Please maintain it indefinitely. Although I live in Manila Philippines, I belong to a support group whose members are mainly Americans. I will be sending them the link to your site. Thank you for your generosity in developing and maintaining BandAides. I would just like to thank you for creating a place where people with a number of differences in lifestyle can come together and support each other, offer hope to each other, and learn from each other's experiences. I think it's truly awesome how your goal is to create knowledge in the minds of teachers and parents alike on how to get their children through school, while having a chronic condition...Reading these stories on your website has made me cry on many occasions, because I truly feel for these children and families. And judging from your website, you do as well. Thank you for taking the time to show people that you care, even if the rest of the world only turns their back. I'm sure that means a lot to many more people than myself, including the children who don't know how to say it themselves. I have worked in pediatrics for 14 years and I am currently working on an article for publication about school reentry programs for children with chronic illnesses. I feel strongly that school personnel need more education about childhood chronic illnesses. I came upon your web site and fell in love with your concept of "Band-Aids and Blackboards." I just wanted to write and tell you what a great site you have! As a Child Life Specialist, I want to tell you how thankful I am for your website. I have visited Bandaids and Blackboards many times over the past years. I hope you know how helpful it is to many of us. Thanks for all that you do. I stumbled across your amazing website when I was looking for information on how best to explain diseases to kids. I was diagnosed with glaucoma when I was 15 and I’m now trying to write a children’s book and a book for teenagers about glaucoma. When I was 18 I founded an online support group for young people with glaucoma and the response was amazing. The medical profession and society in general tend to overlook the different experiences children have when growing up with medical conditions. Your website is truly awe inspiring! I plan to book mark it and to tell my friend who has a daughter with spina bifida about it. Thank you for creating such a wonderful web site!! I just think your Band-aides and Blackboards website is great. I have gone on to the site and read some wonderful writings about children, teens, and adults with special needs. I wanted to say that my little one who is sick a lot due to his special needs loves the daydream for dolphin daydream for sick children ...we can't get enough of it (you can access it through the sitemap). As a child life specialist I have utilized your website for all sorts of information since its inception. I am always so excited to see new additions to the Band-Aids and Blackboards site and have recommended it to countless people over the years. I absolutely rave about this website whenever I do workshops for teachers and have received many thanks for directing them to your site. The most typical response I always hear from school professionals is, “I had no idea”, when it comes to helping students and colleagues deal with serious illness, grief and loss in the school. I am always so proud to be able to share your website as a resource for those challenging situations that may arise after I have come and gone. Keep up the great web site, I have recommended it to everyone. I came across your website while doing school work. I would just like to commend all who put effort into this website. As I was browsing through the different sites and pages I felt it is a great resource for all going through illnesses. Not only was the website informative but fun too. Thanks to all! I am so glad y'all are up and running again. I was in distress during the summer as I found the page down. I am a clinical social worker at Duke Hospital and am very careful what sites I recommend to our patients and families. I have never hesitated to provide your information. Thank you for such a great resource for our kids, families and those of us who work with them. I finally checked out your site and i must say. Its is such a wonderful site. No wonder the kids loves it so much and want to be there all the time. I really admire your site. Great Job! Your page is refreshing and offers something for everyone. I was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Syndrome at the age of 9. I can truly relate to the "Good, Bad, and Ugly" link that is for the teens. At 31, I continue to go through bouts with my body and, at times, find it difficult to relate to my family and friends when I'm trying to understand what the next "adjustment" will mean for me. However, I do know, that I am fortunate to be. I am a medical social worker, working in a dialysis setting. I have been able to pull from my own experiences when working with my patients. Working with my patients helps me to believe that my illness was not given to me in vain. I may have bad days, when my body is not doing too well, but I stay honest with myself and my patients and am able to do what needs to be done. Thanks for the site and letting me share. Have a great day! I think this is a wonderful site. I am currently researching all I can as we have a 3 year old son who could some day be diagnosed with Lupus. Right now we are in the wait and see stage as his first test for Lupus has come back and the numbers are not as low as what the doctor would like to see but they are not high enough to say that this is in fact what he has been suffering through for a year now. Thanks so much for having a site that helps with the coping end of this all. I will peruse this site more when I have the opportunity. When we tell you something please can you pay attention. We know our bodies; we've had them all our lives so we know when something abnormal is happening. Also, please tell US what's going on, not just our parents. My doctors keep having meetings with my Mum and Dad, it's like, it's MY body you're talking about, not theirs! I am a 4th year nursing student from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. I am just starting my final pracicum experience for my degree, and have been fortunate to get a placement in pediatrics. I have started work on my pediatric specialty diploma, and came across your website during my research. I just wanted to thank you for your website, what a fantastic resource for children of all ages, parents and nurses. I have bookmarked your site, and plan to refer to it often. I will be sure to use some of the suggested tips in my practice! My son has chronic fatigue syndrome and has been through a lot. He has been really sick for about 16 months and there hasn't been much change. He loves dolphins and the Dolphin Daydream is absolutely beautiful. I know it will make him smile. Hi.I live in the U.K. and have a little boy with Prader Willi Syndrome. Sitting at my computer, I came across your wonderful site. Have just spent two hours looking around. Read some wonderful stories and some sad ones. I must go and do the washing up now, but look forward to coming back. Keep up the good work. Best wishes Sue. What a great site. My daughter had pseudo tumor cerebri. I will have her check this out. I like how the kids write about their illness so that others can understand. I also like the infomration for the medical professionals and others in the family. Thanks for a great site. I came across your site today while trying to find a place to purchase a spleen guard for my 10 year old daughter. She was diagnosed in June 2003 with Chronic Active Hepatitis. I still haven't found where I can purchase one but I found a great web site in the process. Thank you so much for creating this, its the best site I have seen. My daugter will love visiting here once she is feeling better. I like your site and can't wait to share it with my daughter. I, of course review everything my daughter is exposed to before I give her permission to go on a website. I think you're doing a great job for kids to have a place to "hang out" and learn to deal with their problems. I am also a nurse and I applaud your efforts! Best of luck with your site and thanks again for providing a place for kids to come and visit. Dr. Fleitas, I just wanted to let you know that this is a wonderful website and I will be encouraging my students to access it when working with children with chronic illness and their families. Thank you so much! What a wonderful site. I specialise in supporting people with MS. Very impressed by your site. Thank you. I just wanted to let you know that your site is awesome. It was the children stories that touched me the most. I never wanted to work in Pediatrics because it scared me to see so many children in pain. By reading some stories about the children's life made me look at it from another perspective. I never thought how it would make them feel to have good nurses by their side not giving them sympathy but understanding them and being there where they can. I realize that sympathy is not going to make them feel or get better. I will go back to your site to read more stories, their very long stories so I can only read a few at a time, but will definitely come back. I just found your wonderful site last night. This is nothing less than the most inspiring and encouraging site I have ever visited. My son Adam lives with many of the issues that your kiddos do. I was hoping to write a page for Adam if that would be okay. At almost 11 years old Adam is finally expressing himself verbally, so I think he could help write the page. I will be passing your site on to many more people, Joan. Thanks for giving our kids a huge voice!! They have so much to teach us all!! I am a female college student who is months away from graduating from nursing school and my secret is ADHD. I wasn't given the dx until after I started college and the meds have made all the difference, but do I tell? No. Although I'm entering the prestigious world of professional medicine, I keep my dx of ADHD close to my heart with the knowledge of the stigma it carries. I discovered your website as part of an assignment for a Peds class. It is absolutely wonderful; keep up the awesome work sharing the beauty of these kids! I just found your website tonight. It's great! I am working on putting together a program on living with a chronic illness as a patient or as a caregiver. I will be sending many people to your site...thanks! I just LOVE your website. I was told about it by my son's kindergarten teacher because our son, Jacob has cystic fibrosis and she thought I might like it. She was right! Our daughter Kasey (age 4) also has CF. I see such a big heart and so much effort in your work (and lots of great creativity and talent, too!). It is clear that this is a labor of love for you.<>..you and I are on the very same page here- providing families and kids with chronic illnesses with tools, training and mostly, hope. BLESS YOU for your endeavors!!! Thank you so much for your website and the wealth of information there. I just found your story about "Undercover Jamie". My 13 year old daughter has had mild psoriasis ( a few spots here and there) for a couple of years (although we didn't know what it was and just had it diagnosed by her pediatrician within the last couple of months). Well, tonight, I poked my head in her room not realizing that she was changing and was shocked to see that her entire back from the neck to her buttocks is completely covered in a psoriasis outbreak (my poor baby girl!) I asked her why she didn't tell me about it and she said that she didn't think it mattered. I know she's embarrassed and angry about the whole thing; she turned down a swim party the other day and I could<>n't figure out why (now I know). When she gets home this evening, we're going to sit down and look at your website and others and get informed and we'll call the doctor first thing Monday. Your site is a wonderful way to let her know that she's not alone. Thank you! When I read the Dolphin Daydream I started to burst into tears. It really touched the heart. And it's a great poem for kids who are dying. Once I was on the Internet and found this site that had similar poems. One was a poem was called "Happy Father's Day" from Your Little Angel in Heaven. So while I was reading that, like I did with yours, I started to cry. I'm a second year nursing student from New Zealand. We are currently midway thru a module on chronic illnesses. This is an awesome site. The nurses section was great. I'll try to put into practice your tips on our peds ward. Thanks so much. I am a 21 year old graduate student who has experienced depression for much of her life. I read about your site in my sociology textbook (Sociology in Our Times, by Diana Kendall), and immediately went to visit. There I found a wonderful combination of information and support for all those affected by various chronic illnesses. Thank you for your efforts to help the people who often feel helpless, and for working to educate everyone. Kudos on a job well done. Awesome site! I have really found this useful and...I sent it to my classmates and friends in the field! Keep up the great work! Hi... just to say what a wonderful site you have. My grandson is only a year old and he will benefit frim this when he is older. I am also going to take some bits from it and share it with his big sister school as his siblings are being tormented because their young brother has a disability. Thanks again for such a wonderful site, I just want to tell you what a wonderful site Bandaides and Blackboards is. Thank you for doing this. It's one of the best sites I've seen. I have a son with congenital heart disease (now 26 and is in need of a heart transplant, but thankfully he can put that off a bit longer---he's doing pretty good now)....anyway, I know all the difficulties of the ill child, the siblings, the parents and so on and so on. I also know the joys. Those in the medical profession, like yourself, who go beyond what they are required to do and share their time and heart are more appreciated by us than we can say.THANK YOU. Your web site is spectacular. Congratulations. I work on a web site for kids with a rare illness; the kids are starting to put together a stories page. I was very inspired by your efforts and will certainly refer the kids there. I am a case manager in a large NICU in Northern Virginia. I stumbled upon your website because we have a newborn with BWS -- I plan to use your website to help guide parents when they have questions about what it will be like for their children growing up with special needs. Thank you for expanding your doctoral work! One of the first BandAide experts sent a note discussing the impact of the site in her life. Here is an excerpt: I am sure you are aware of how great your website it. I’m sure if I am getting hundreds of emails that you get millions! This is yet one more to add to your file....Thankyou, for changing my life and for helping so, so many young people and their families find the strength to keep going when things get tough.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been a teacher for 15 years, but it has been at least 7 years since I have taught Special Ed. I have been going crazy trying to find resources to help get me catch up on the different medical conditions. Your website is absolutely wonderful!! It has so many resources in one place. I have shared it with the other teachers in my district and with my Special Ed Director...I can only imagine how much time it took you to compile the resources! So thank you again! You have saved me many hours of frustration.

I have just discovered your website whilst at work in London, England. I wanted to let you know that your website was a source of inspiration to me...It really was wonderful to see such energy and passion gone into this and I am so inspired by you and through you. Many thanks, keep up the good work.

Stumbled upon your site by accident. It is a wonderful site. Please maintain it indefinitely. Although I live in Manila Philippines, I belong to a support group whose members are mainly Americans. I will be sending them the link to your site. Thank you for your generosity in developing and maintaining BandAides.

I have worked in pediatrics for 14 years and I am currently working on an article for publication about school reentry programs for children with chronic illnesses. I feel strongly that school personnel need more education about childhood chronic illnesses. I came upon your web site and fell in love with your concept of "Band-Aids and Blackboards." I just wanted to write and tell you what a great site you have!

As a Child Life Specialist, I want to tell you how thankful I am for your website. I have visited Bandaids and Blackboards many times over the past years. I hope you know how helpful it is to many of us. Thanks for all that you do.

I stumbled across your amazing website when I was looking for information on how best to explain diseases to kids. I was diagnosed with glaucoma when I was 15 and I’m now trying to write a children’s book and a book for teenagers about glaucoma. When I was 18 I founded an online support group for young people with glaucoma and the response was amazing. The medical profession and society in general tend to overlook the different experiences children have when growing up with medical conditions. Your website is truly awe inspiring! I plan to book mark it and to tell my friend who has a daughter with spina bifida about it. Thank you for creating such a wonderful web site!!

I just think your Band-aides and Blackboards website is great. I have gone on to the site and read some wonderful writings about children, teens, and adults with special needs. I wanted to say that my little one who is sick a lot due to his special needs loves the daydream for dolphin daydream for sick children ...we can't get enough of it (you can access it through the sitemap).

As a child life specialist I have utilized your website for all sorts of information since its inception. I am always so excited to see new additions to the Band-Aids and Blackboards site and have recommended it to countless people over the years. I absolutely rave about this website whenever I do workshops for teachers and have received many thanks for directing them to your site. The most typical response I always hear from school professionals is, “I had no idea”, when it comes to helping students and colleagues deal with serious illness, grief and loss in the school. I am always so proud to be able to share your website as a resource for those challenging situations that may arise after I have come and gone.

I came across your website while doing school work. I would just like to commend all who put effort into this website. As I was browsing through the different sites and pages I felt it is a great resource for all going through illnesses. Not only was the website informative but fun too. Thanks to all!

I am so glad y'all are up and running again. I was in distress during the summer as I found the page down. I am a clinical social worker at Duke Hospital and am very careful what sites I recommend to our patients and families. I have never hesitated to provide your information. Thank you for such a great resource for our kids, families and those of us who work with them.

I finally checked out your site and i must say. Its is such a wonderful site. No wonder the kids loves it so much and want to be there all the time. I really admire your site. Great Job!

Your page is refreshing and offers something for everyone. I was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Syndrome at the age of 9. I can truly relate to the "Good, Bad, and Ugly" link that is for the teens. At 31, I continue to go through bouts with my body and, at times, find it difficult to relate to my family and friends when I'm trying to understand what the next "adjustment" will mean for me. However, I do know, that I am fortunate to be. I am a medical social worker, working in a dialysis setting. I have been able to pull from my own experiences when working with my patients. Working with my patients helps me to believe that my illness was not given to me in vain. I may have bad days, when my body is not doing too well, but I stay honest with myself and my patients and am able to do what needs to be done. Thanks for the site and letting me share. Have a great day!

I think this is a wonderful site. I am currently researching all I can as we have a 3 year old son who could some day be diagnosed with Lupus. Right now we are in the wait and see stage as his first test for Lupus has come back and the numbers are not as low as what the doctor would like to see but they are not high enough to say that this is in fact what he has been suffering through for a year now. Thanks so much for having a site that helps with the coping end of this all. I will peruse this site more when I have the opportunity.

When we tell you something please can you pay attention. We know our bodies; we've had them all our lives so we know when something abnormal is happening. Also, please tell US what's going on, not just our parents. My doctors keep having meetings with my Mum and Dad, it's like, it's MY body you're talking about, not theirs!

I am a 4th year nursing student from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. I am just starting my final pracicum experience for my degree, and have been fortunate to get a placement in pediatrics. I have started work on my pediatric specialty diploma, and came across your website during my research. I just wanted to thank you for your website, what a fantastic resource for children of all ages, parents and nurses. I have bookmarked your site, and plan to refer to it often. I will be sure to use some of the suggested tips in my practice!

My son has chronic fatigue syndrome and has been through a lot. He has been really sick for about 16 months and there hasn't been much change. He loves dolphins and the Dolphin Daydream is absolutely beautiful. I know it will make him smile.

Hi.I live in the U.K. and have a little boy with Prader Willi Syndrome. Sitting at my computer, I came across your wonderful site. Have just spent two hours looking around. Read some wonderful stories and some sad ones. I must go and do the washing up now, but look forward to coming back. Keep up the good work. Best wishes Sue.

What a great site. My daughter had pseudo tumor cerebri. I will have her check this out. I like how the kids write about their illness so that others can understand. I also like the infomration for the medical professionals and others in the family. Thanks for a great site.

I came across your site today while trying to find a place to purchase a spleen guard for my 10 year old daughter. She was diagnosed in June 2003 with Chronic Active Hepatitis. I still haven't found where I can purchase one but I found a great web site in the process. Thank you so much for creating this, its the best site I have seen. My daugter will love visiting here once she is feeling better.

I like your site and can't wait to share it with my daughter. I, of course review everything my daughter is exposed to before I give her permission to go on a website. I think you're doing a great job for kids to have a place to "hang out" and learn to deal with their problems. I am also a nurse and I applaud your efforts! Best of luck with your site and thanks again for providing a place for kids to come and visit.

Dr. Fleitas, I just wanted to let you know that this is a wonderful website and I will be encouraging my students to access it when working with children with chronic illness and their families. Thank you so much!

What a wonderful site. I specialise in supporting people with MS. Very impressed by your site. Thank you.

I just wanted to let you know that your site is awesome. It was the children stories that touched me the most. I never wanted to work in Pediatrics because it scared me to see so many children in pain. By reading some stories about the children's life made me look at it from another perspective. I never thought how it would make them feel to have good nurses by their side not giving them sympathy but understanding them and being there where they can. I realize that sympathy is not going to make them feel or get better. I will go back to your site to read more stories, their very long stories so I can only read a few at a time, but will definitely come back.

I just found your wonderful site last night. This is nothing less than the most inspiring and encouraging site I have ever visited. My son Adam lives with many of the issues that your kiddos do. I was hoping to write a page for Adam if that would be okay. At almost 11 years old Adam is finally expressing himself verbally, so I think he could help write the page. I will be passing your site on to many more people, Joan. Thanks for giving our kids a huge voice!! They have so much to teach us all!!

I am a female college student who is months away from graduating from nursing school and my secret is ADHD. I wasn't given the dx until after I started college and the meds have made all the difference, but do I tell? No. Although I'm entering the prestigious world of professional medicine, I keep my dx of ADHD close to my heart with the knowledge of the stigma it carries. I discovered your website as part of an assignment for a Peds class. It is absolutely wonderful; keep up the awesome work sharing the beauty of these kids!

I just found your website tonight. It's great! I am working on putting together a program on living with a chronic illness as a patient or as a caregiver. I will be sending many people to your site...thanks!

I just LOVE your website. I was told about it by my son's kindergarten teacher because our son, Jacob has cystic fibrosis and she thought I might like it. She was right! Our daughter Kasey (age 4) also has CF. I see such a big heart and so much effort in your work (and lots of great creativity and talent, too!). It is clear that this is a labor of love for you.<>..you and I are on the very same page here- providing families and kids with chronic illnesses with tools, training and mostly, hope. BLESS YOU for your endeavors!!!

Thank you so much for your website and the wealth of information there. I just found your story about "Undercover Jamie". My 13 year old daughter has had mild psoriasis ( a few spots here and there) for a couple of years (although we didn't know what it was and just had it diagnosed by her pediatrician within the last couple of months). Well, tonight, I poked my head in her room not realizing that she was changing and was shocked to see that her entire back from the neck to her buttocks is completely covered in a psoriasis outbreak (my poor baby girl!) I asked her why she didn't tell me about it and she said that she didn't think it mattered. I know she's embarrassed and angry about the whole thing; she turned down a swim party the other day and I could<>n't figure out why (now I know). When she gets home this evening, we're going to sit down and look at your website and others and get informed and we'll call the doctor first thing Monday. Your site is a wonderful way to let her know that she's not alone. Thank you!

When I read the Dolphin Daydream I started to burst into tears. It really touched the heart. And it's a great poem for kids who are dying. Once I was on the Internet and found this site that had similar poems. One was a poem was called "Happy Father's Day" from Your Little Angel in Heaven. So while I was reading that, like I did with yours, I started to cry.

I'm a second year nursing student from New Zealand. We are currently midway thru a module on chronic illnesses. This is an awesome site. The nurses section was great. I'll try to put into practice your tips on our peds ward. Thanks so much.

I am a 21 year old graduate student who has experienced depression for much of her life. I read about your site in my sociology textbook (Sociology in Our Times, by Diana Kendall), and immediately went to visit. There I found a wonderful combination of information and support for all those affected by various chronic illnesses. Thank you for your efforts to help the people who often feel helpless, and for working to educate everyone. Kudos on a job well done.

Awesome site! I have really found this useful and...I sent it to my classmates and friends in the field! Keep up the great work!

Hi... just to say what a wonderful site you have. My grandson is only a year old and he will benefit frim this when he is older. I am also going to take some bits from it and share it with his big sister school as his siblings are being tormented because their young brother has a disability. Thanks again for such a wonderful site,

I just want to tell you what a wonderful site Bandaides and Blackboards is. Thank you for doing this. It's one of the best sites I've seen. I have a son with congenital heart disease (now 26 and is in need of a heart transplant, but thankfully he can put that off a bit longer---he's doing pretty good now)....anyway, I know all the difficulties of the ill child, the siblings, the parents and so on and so on. I also know the joys. Those in the medical profession, like yourself, who go beyond what they are required to do and share their time and heart are more appreciated by us than we can say.THANK YOU.

Your web site is spectacular. Congratulations. I work on a web site for kids with a rare illness; the kids are starting to put together a stories page. I was very inspired by your efforts and will certainly refer the kids there.

I am a case manager in a large NICU in Northern Virginia. I stumbled upon your website because we have a newborn with BWS -- I plan to use your website to help guide parents when they have questions about what it will be like for their children growing up with special needs. Thank you for expanding your doctoral work!

One of the first BandAide experts sent a note discussing the impact of the site in her life. Here is an excerpt: I am sure you are aware of how great your website it. I’m sure if I am getting hundreds of emails that you get millions! This is yet one more to add to your file....Thankyou, for changing my life and for helping so, so many young people and their families find the strength to keep going when things get tough.