letters band-aides...

More letters! I really enjoyed your website especially the jumping frogs and tips on teasing. I have a 6 year old so it helped me to understand what school age children go through. Thanks for that. I have ME/CFS/CFIDS and have really enjoyed your website. I am a member of a support group for my illness in the uk called AYME (www.ayme.org.uk) . i was wondering if with your permission i could write an article for our bi-monthly magazine to cheer up sufferers ('CHEERS') including some of the 'tips for teachers', 'tips for drs' etc and also mention your site as a great place to go and realise that you are not alone. A friend of mine just sent me the link to your site and I have to write to thank you for the time and energy that you have put into this site. I will be looking through it in more detail and along with my 15 year old daughter. It was so cool to find stories about pseudo tumor cerebri because that is one of the disorders that she suffers from. Hello, I am a registered pediatric nurse who now teaches Health Care Careers to high school students. I was searching the internet and found this site. I plan on using some of the materials to introduce the students to the concept of illness to help them develop empathy. this site is great. Thanks for putting it together. My mom introduced me to this website a while ago but I never went to it because I've had so much "help" that never worked in the past, so I didn't believe that any more people brought into my IBS problem would help. Today just a while ago I had nothing to do so I decided to go to your website, as I was looking around, your "Daydream With a Dolphin" caught my eye, I read it and realized it was just what I needed! Because for some reason I usually get my IBS attacks in early morning or late night your ''Daydream With a Dolphin'' is perfect to distract me from my excruciating pain and help me fall asleep or just let me stay in a daydream until its over. It is just what I need and I thank you so very much for helping me solve a part of my problem! THANKS! What a wonderful website you have! Thank you on behalf of all sick children and their families. I hope it's all right that I took the liberty of e-mailing your poem about leukemia to a 6-year-old cousin who was just diagnosed with ALL and is being treated at Children's Hospital in San Diego. Again, thank you for your incredible contributions to people's lives; you are so generous. I am a health teacher for grades 5 and 6. I found your site while searching for some information for my students. This site is excellent. I plan to use it with my students. Keep up the good work. I had health problems when I was a child. I wish I had had a forum such as your site to share my story. I was informed of your website from a parent of a special needs child I had the irreplaceable privilege to work with. It is so refreshing to see such a great resource such as your website to educate people about individuals with specials needs and disabilities. So many times they are overlooked and people give up on them. My title was "Educational Trainer" in which I was an aide to a student with challenging needs. I only worked with the student for a year (I wish it was longer, but my husband and I moved). But in that year, that student taught me more about patience, perseverance, and determination. It was very difficult at times, but at the end of every day, so rewarding. I miss that student everyday and I am so happy to have been a part of their life. I just want to thank you for your compassion! Hello, Thanks for your site and the clowning you are doing with all the children. I am not that good at it but the main thing is to put smiles on the face of so many. I really love going into ICU where so many sit hour after hours worring about their loved ones. Keep up the good work. I just read the dolphin daydream and I cried and cried. I know that dolphins heal, and I love your site. Thanks so much for creating it. The Dolphin Daydream is so good it made me cry. You see I'm an 18 year old girl living with T-Cell Leukemia, and that poem touched my heart, mind, and soul. Whoo what an amazing web page, I am a new graduate in a paediatric hospital in Queensland, Australia and left university two years ago with rose coloured glasses. I was expecting to be able to make life as enjoyable as possible for the children and families on the ward and instead have found myself overwhelmed by the daily “tasks” and paperwork required to do my “job”. Your web page has really helped me realise that although that side of my work is important…..the kids are the priority, and if that means their beds are not made, but I have taken the time to actually play with them in the bath, then so be it….I know which ‘task’ the kids will appreciate My friend from NY just told me about your Bandaides and Blackboard site. What a wealth of information! I wish some of this had been available when my daughter Michele, now 20 years old, was growing up. She has Asperger's Syndrome. I don't know if you'd be interested in posting this, but Michele wrote a book about her life with Asperger's as a tool to help understand it herself. I've attached the cover. I've used it as a great teaching tool to help others understand her. The book was published through Author House and is available on-line at amazon.com. I'm also forwarding this site on to her so that she can contact you herself if she'd like. Thanks so much for putting information like this together. Most people have no idea how isolating it is for a family with a child who is ill or disabled. This will help a lot of kids feel loved, supported and not alone. One of our course assignments involves researching and joining an advocacy group on a concern that has to do with special education. I was doing some research on learning disabilities and I came across your website. I am not sure if you would consider your site an advocacy group or not, but I really enjoyed looking at and reading through everything you have to offer on your website. So far, I have only spent about two hours reading through the site and there is so much more to go! I think what you are doing is amazing and admirable. It brought tears to my eyes to read the stories in the silver linings page. While I was reading through the explanation behind the name Band-Aides and Blackboards, all I could think was, "Wow, these words are so true!" Your resource page for teachers is wonderful and I will definitely use it as a resource for class and when I finally get out there and teach. I enjoyed your site so much and I hope that in the next couple years, when I begin to teach, that this website will still be here so that I can share my experiences as well. What you're doing is inspirational and I would love to be an advocate for your site. I believe that you are doing wonders for children everywhere and I want to say Thank You! God Bless and Good Luck! Thanks so much for the tour of your hospital. I am an LPN nurse that serves the largest daycare in South Dakota. I do about 10 classes (health and Safety) a week for about 200 children. The children are always interested in these life events. They have such an interesting perspective and always little sponges. I always keep looking for resources that will help me to present my topic the best. This site will help me with a variety of topics. Do you have sound with these presentations? It did not seem like it. but the visuals are great. Keep up the good work. It helps to present a 'body' or health or safety topic when a child is well so that if something happens. the discussion has happened and the fear is so much less. The parents have shared the success of our little visits each week as it applies to their individual lives.Thanks again for your input in the world of medicine and helping children. It really is a small world! I am a Special Education teacher at Chapel Hill High School in Douglasville, Ga. I was doing research online on Inclusion/Collaboration and I found your website and read the article about inclusion. I must say that I almost cried reading about Alexander and his class. This story was so wonderful! The actions of both the teacher and students touched my heart. The way the teacher prepared for Alexander's arrival and how the children reacted to him was heartwarming. While reading I could almost imagine the classroom day in and day out. To read about Alexander blossoming (along with the other students) has truly made my day brighter.Thank you for the wonderful story! I just found your site and want to congratulate you on the content and set-up! My finding it is also terrific timing...I'm an author and columnist who specializes in health, faith, and spirituality. I'm also someone who's lived her whole life (I'm in my late 40s now) with chronic illness -- before I was 18, I'd had pneumonia 13 times, and now I live with lupus and a host of other serious chronic conditions. Besides my writing, I also speak about illness and coping with it in productive, positive ways. Tomorrow, I'll be speaking to a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, sharing my story of being sick while young and how I found support, hope and dreams from then to now. You can be sure I'm going to share your website with the group tomorrow, and with others. If it's all right with you, too, I'd like to link your website with mine. I look forward to hearing back from you and, perhaps, contributing to some of the content on your site. Truly, it's a blessing to the many millions of people for whom illness is a way of life -- as children, teens, or adults. I've given your site to many students since I found it about 5 years ago. It gives me insight when I visit it and, I hope, has been helpful to the kids I've given it to. Today I emailed it to the counselors and teachers at my school, hopefully they will also be able to find some tips and understanding in it to help them deal with our chronically ill students and their families. I'm a school nurse in a rural high school, but we currently have 3 kids undergoing treatment for cancer, 1 girl with a kidney transplant (her 3rd), a very brittle diabetic, not to mention all the asthma out there! One thing I would like to see are more tips for school nurses. Many of these kids are at school with ports, temp checks every time they start to feel sick, no hair, and feeling sick all the time. It would be great to have some tips to help make it better at school. One thing I have learned is not to ask the siblings "how's your brother doing?" One brother answered me when I asked him, then said "But I"m here because I don't feel well" Seems like too often the siblings get overlooked in the concern for the sick sibling. Thank you for this site, for giving the kids a voice. I just wanted to comment on your wonderful website. I came across it as I was (desperately) searching for a way to speak to 6 year old Daisys (girlscouts) about childhood illnesses, what it means to be sick, and how kids might feel being in the hospital for prolonged periods of time. This website was my saving grace. I love the stories written by the children themselves - it really makes it so much easier for kids to understand these complicated topics when they hear it from another child's perspective. I have bookmarked your website and intend to use it frequently. I hope to pass it on whenever possible!<> Thank you, Thank you so much for the work you are doing on this site. I am a healthy 38 year old man, husband, and father of 5 wonderful, healthy children. I am doing preliminary research for some writing that I will be doing for special needs children, teens, and parents who deal with these issues on a daily basis. The people that I work with and for will soon be doing great things for terminally ill and special needs children and teenagers. I just want to tell you that these stories, written by the children themselves, are truly inspiring and I will continue to visit and read. Thank you again so much. Have a wonderful day! How can I ever thank you enough for this website? It is a goldmine of information, support, humor, and wisdom. The stories are so powerful, the poetry so helpful, and the resources invaluable. Kudos! I wanted to write and tell you how wonderful your site is. Myself and my three daughters have a rare medical condition. They have chosen to "do something" and are trying to start a camp with the focus group being children and young adults with rare diseases. ..<>Thank you again. It is a wonderful tool for chronically ill children. <>

I really enjoyed your website especially the jumping frogs and tips on teasing. I have a 6 year old so it helped me to understand what school age children go through. Thanks for that.

I have ME/CFS/CFIDS and have really enjoyed your website. I am a member of a support group for my illness in the uk called AYME (www.ayme.org.uk) . i was wondering if with your permission i could write an article for our bi-monthly magazine to cheer up sufferers ('CHEERS') including some of the 'tips for teachers', 'tips for drs' etc and also mention your site as a great place to go and realise that you are not alone.

A friend of mine just sent me the link to your site and I have to write to thank you for the time and energy that you have put into this site. I will be looking through it in more detail and along with my 15 year old daughter. It was so cool to find stories about pseudo tumor cerebri because that is one of the disorders that she suffers from.

Hello, I am a registered pediatric nurse who now teaches Health Care Careers to high school students. I was searching the internet and found this site. I plan on using some of the materials to introduce the students to the concept of illness to help them develop empathy. this site is great. Thanks for putting it together.

My mom introduced me to this website a while ago but I never went to it because I've had so much "help" that never worked in the past, so I didn't believe that any more people brought into my IBS problem would help. Today just a while ago I had nothing to do so I decided to go to your website, as I was looking around, your "Daydream With a Dolphin" caught my eye, I read it and realized it was just what I needed! Because for some reason I usually get my IBS attacks in early morning or late night your ''Daydream With a Dolphin'' is perfect to distract me from my excruciating pain and help me fall asleep or just let me stay in a daydream until its over. It is just what I need and I thank you so very much for helping me solve a part of my problem! THANKS!

What a wonderful website you have! Thank you on behalf of all sick children and their families. I hope it's all right that I took the liberty of e-mailing your poem about leukemia to a 6-year-old cousin who was just diagnosed with ALL and is being treated at Children's Hospital in San Diego. Again, thank you for your incredible contributions to people's lives; you are so generous.

I am a health teacher for grades 5 and 6. I found your site while searching for some information for my students. This site is excellent. I plan to use it with my students. Keep up the good work. I had health problems when I was a child. I wish I had had a forum such as your site to share my story.

I was informed of your website from a parent of a special needs child I had the irreplaceable privilege to work with. It is so refreshing to see such a great resource such as your website to educate people about individuals with specials needs and disabilities. So many times they are overlooked and people give up on them. My title was "Educational Trainer" in which I was an aide to a student with challenging needs. I only worked with the student for a year (I wish it was longer, but my husband and I moved). But in that year, that student taught me more about patience, perseverance, and determination. It was very difficult at times, but at the end of every day, so rewarding. I miss that student everyday and I am so happy to have been a part of their life. I just want to thank you for your compassion!
Hello, Thanks for your site and the clowning you are doing with all the children. I am not that good at it but the main thing is to put smiles on the face of so many. I really love going into ICU where so many sit hour after hours worring about their loved ones. Keep up the good work.

I just read the dolphin daydream and I cried and cried. I know that dolphins heal, and I love your site. Thanks so much for creating it.

The Dolphin Daydream is so good it made me cry. You see I'm an 18 year old girl living with T-Cell Leukemia, and that poem touched my heart, mind, and soul.

Whoo what an amazing web page, I am a new graduate in a paediatric hospital in Queensland, Australia and left university two years ago with rose coloured glasses. I was expecting to be able to make life as enjoyable as possible for the children and families on the ward and instead have found myself overwhelmed by the daily “tasks” and paperwork required to do my “job”. Your web page has really helped me realise that although that side of my work is important…..the kids are the priority, and if that means their beds are not made, but I have taken the time to actually play with them in the bath, then so be it….I know which ‘task’ the kids will appreciate

My friend from NY just told me about your Bandaides and Blackboard site. What a wealth of information! I wish some of this had been available when my daughter Michele, now 20 years old, was growing up. She has Asperger's Syndrome. I don't know if you'd be interested in posting this, but Michele wrote a book about her life with Asperger's as a tool to help understand it herself. I've attached the cover. I've used it as a great teaching tool to help others understand her. The book was published through Author House and is available on-line at amazon.com. I'm also forwarding this site on to her so that she can contact you herself if she'd like. Thanks so much for putting information like this together. Most people have no idea how isolating it is for a family with a child who is ill or disabled. This will help a lot of kids feel loved, supported and not alone.

One of our course assignments involves researching and joining an advocacy group on a concern that has to do with special education. I was doing some research on learning disabilities and I came across your website. I am not sure if you would consider your site an advocacy group or not, but I really enjoyed looking at and reading through everything you have to offer on your website. So far, I have only spent about two hours reading through the site and there is so much more to go! I think what you are doing is amazing and admirable. It brought tears to my eyes to read the stories in the silver linings page. While I was reading through the explanation behind the name Band-Aides and Blackboards, all I could think was, "Wow, these words are so true!" Your resource page for teachers is wonderful and I will definitely use it as a resource for class and when I finally get out there and teach. I enjoyed your site so much and I hope that in the next couple years, when I begin to teach, that this website will still be here so that I can share my experiences as well. What you're doing is inspirational and I would love to be an advocate for your site. I believe that you are doing wonders for children everywhere and I want to say Thank You! God Bless and Good Luck!

Thanks so much for the tour of your hospital. I am an LPN nurse that serves the largest daycare in South Dakota. I do about 10 classes (health and Safety) a week for about 200 children. The children are always interested in these life events. They have such an interesting perspective and always little sponges. I always keep looking for resources that will help me to present my topic the best. This site will help me with a variety of topics. Do you have sound with these presentations? It did not seem like it. but the visuals are great. Keep up the good work. It helps to present a 'body' or health or safety topic when a child is well so that if something happens. the discussion has happened and the fear is so much less. The parents have shared the success of our little visits each week as it applies to their individual lives.Thanks again for your input in the world of medicine and helping children. It really is a small world!

I am a Special Education teacher at Chapel Hill High School in Douglasville, Ga. I was doing research online on Inclusion/Collaboration and I found your website and read the article about inclusion. I must say that I almost cried reading about Alexander and his class. This story was so wonderful! The actions of both the teacher and students touched my heart. The way the teacher prepared for Alexander's arrival and how the children reacted to him was heartwarming. While reading I could almost imagine the classroom day in and day out. To read about Alexander blossoming (along with the other students) has truly made my day brighter.Thank you for the wonderful story!

I just found your site and want to congratulate you on the content and set-up! My finding it is also terrific timing...I'm an author and columnist who specializes in health, faith, and spirituality. I'm also someone who's lived her whole life (I'm in my late 40s now) with chronic illness -- before I was 18, I'd had pneumonia 13 times, and now I live with lupus and a host of other serious chronic conditions. Besides my writing, I also speak about illness and coping with it in productive, positive ways. Tomorrow, I'll be speaking to a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, sharing my story of being sick while young and how I found support, hope and dreams from then to now. You can be sure I'm going to share your website with the group tomorrow, and with others. If it's all right with you, too, I'd like to link your website with mine. I look forward to hearing back from you and, perhaps, contributing to some of the content on your site. Truly, it's a blessing to the many millions of people for whom illness is a way of life -- as children, teens, or adults.

I've given your site to many students since I found it about 5 years ago. It gives me insight when I visit it and, I hope, has been helpful to the kids I've given it to. Today I emailed it to the counselors and teachers at my school, hopefully they will also be able to find some tips and understanding in it to help them deal with our chronically ill students and their families. I'm a school nurse in a rural high school, but we currently have 3 kids undergoing treatment for cancer, 1 girl with a kidney transplant (her 3rd), a very brittle diabetic, not to mention all the asthma out there! One thing I would like to see are more tips for school nurses. Many of these kids are at school with ports, temp checks every time they start to feel sick, no hair, and feeling sick all the time. It would be great to have some tips to help make it better at school. One thing I have learned is not to ask the siblings "how's your brother doing?" One brother answered me when I asked him, then said "But I"m here because I don't feel well" Seems like too often the siblings get overlooked in the concern for the sick sibling. Thank you for this site, for giving the kids a voice.

I just wanted to comment on your wonderful website. I came across it as I was (desperately) searching for a way to speak to 6 year old Daisys (girlscouts) about childhood illnesses, what it means to be sick, and how kids might feel being in the hospital for prolonged periods of time. This website was my saving grace. I love the stories written by the children themselves - it really makes it so much easier for kids to understand these complicated topics when they hear it from another child's perspective. I have bookmarked your website and intend to use it frequently. I hope to pass it on whenever possible!<> Thank you,

Thank you so much for the work you are doing on this site. I am a healthy 38 year old man, husband, and father of 5 wonderful, healthy children. I am doing preliminary research for some writing that I will be doing for special needs children, teens, and parents who deal with these issues on a daily basis. The people that I work with and for will soon be doing great things for terminally ill and special needs children and teenagers. I just want to tell you that these stories, written by the children themselves, are truly inspiring and I will continue to visit and read. Thank you again so much. Have a wonderful day!

How can I ever thank you enough for this website? It is a goldmine of information, support, humor, and wisdom. The stories are so powerful, the poetry so helpful, and the resources invaluable. Kudos!

I wanted to write and tell you how wonderful your site is. Myself and my three daughters have a rare medical condition. They have chosen to "do something" and are trying to start a camp with the focus group being children and young adults with rare diseases. ..<>Thank you again. It is a wonderful tool for chronically ill children.