Children with medical problems

[Carmel]

In the small village where i live a rumour has gone round that my child has a heart problem( he has but you wouldn,t know this by looking at him ) I have noticed people staring at him now and talking to him differently I didnt want this to happen any advice?

I often think people react like this out of ignorance or not knowing what to say - we also live in a small village & my child was born with a rare medical condition (which could be treated) - I tried to be as honest and up front as possible - hoping to avoid any 'rumours' when people visited for the first time, or I bumped into them, after the initial congratulations or whatever I would say 'I don't know if you've heard but X was born with ....... condition, the treatment he will have is ............ and any special needs are .........'; this may not be quite so relevant if your child is a little older but perhaps you could adapt it to your situation?

If you are quite confident you could even say 'I hear on the grapevine that everyone is talking about X's heart condition, let me put the record straight .............'.

Good lukc, I can sympathise with this situation.

Thankyou for your reply, first time on this website nice to know people listen!

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My daughter has a medical condition which causes her to throw up her food around once a week at school. Hardly something we can choose to keep quiet.

However, I have chosen to be completely open about this. Other than her throwing up (and potentially putting all the other kids off their lunch) she is bright, popular and wishes she was better at running races. She's 6yo. Her condition is accepted by the other children who sometimes have to call for a teacher to help her. She says some children stare sometimes but it takes a long time to educate a lot of people. And children are naturally curious.

Last week she had a day off school and had a test which involved putting a tube through her nose and down her throat into her stomach then slowly withdrawing it to measure contractions in her oesophagus. It was horrendous. However, she took a piece of the tubing into school and the syringe which had been used to give her water during the procedure and told the class during 'Show and Tell'.

I remember when she was initally diagnosed last year going in to see her teacher and saying 'I won't have her labelled.'

I've found, since I have been so open with everyone, that others have also been open with me. It's easy to believe the next family have the perfect life and you are struggling through but I have been amazed at how many others are on waiting lists for this, that or the other procedure.

I hope you can find a way to deal with your son's condition and people's reaction to it.

Your right i didn't want him labelled i never wanted him to be treated differently.But after reading everything in the long run im probably doing more harm than good. I don't want him growing up thinking im hiding it or ashamed of him. Thanks.