Doctorweblog. About Health & Medicine

Betty had worked extremely hard on her recovery. She had been able to return to work three months ago and was really happy to be back in the workforce. Although she’d had the occasional bad day, Betty was able to work through them and she had begun to feel that she had finally recovered. That was until last week. Now Betty was beginning to think the disorder was returning. Her anxiety was increasing and the attacks had returned. She knew that returning to work had been stressful, but she was happy in her job. She couldn’t understand why the anxiety and the attacks were back. To all intents and purposes life was normal. Her husband and children were fine. Although Betty realised it was hard to run a household and work at the same time, she felt it was worth the extra effort. Her father’s death two months ago had been traumatic but she felt that couldn’t be the reason. Betty wondered if it was the argument she had had with her mother and sisters. The issues had still not been resolved and each time they were together the atmosphere was quite tense. She knew the anxiety and the attacks were making her feel tense, but she couldn’t understand why they had come back. Betty thought that she needed to be more aware of what was causing stress in her life!

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The purpose of looking at norms is not to say that all children have the same needs and can be neatly categorized. Because you are reading this book, it is safe to assume that your child does not fit the pattern outlined. It is also safe to say that you are not pleased and you sense something is going wrong. The purpose of this section is not to make you feel worse about yourself or your child.

Norms are very useful to pinpoint problem areas—to help you establish where you are now. Using the norms, you can begin to look at your situation realistically. You will have something to compare your experience to besides, “When you were a child…” and “None of my children….”

Norms are also useful in setting realistic goals. When the problem is solved you will have clear comparisons for determining how far you have come. Read this section with these thoughts in mind.

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Breathing extra oxygen will make you feel easier, whatever the reason for your breathlessness. Ask about this if the reason for your breathlessness cannot be corrected, or if you feel that the cost of trying to correct it is too great for the likely benefit, or while you are waiting for treatment of the cause to work. It is quite feasible to have an oxygen cylinder at home and it also comes in small cylinders which can be fixed to a wheelchair or carried around fairly easily.

Feeling very breathless can be extremely frightening and stressful. You may find it very hard to relax or to sleep, even with oxygen. Having somebody sit with you may help. Taking a sedative is another possibility. In considering whether to take sedatives you should understand that they could make your breathing and coughing less efficient. This is a cost that you may well be prepared to accept, especially if your cancer cannot be cured and the reason for your breathlessness cannot be relieved. Some doctors take this choice out of their patient’s hands, either by prescribing a sedative without telling them or by refusing to prescribe one even when the patient asks for it. The choice should be yours. Insist that your doctors prescribe nothing without your agreement. Tell them if you would prefer to be either more alert or more drowsy than you are. You have the right to choose, even if the choice to be more drowsy could mean that you don’t live quite as long.

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