As a family of a sick child you may find that your friends stop visiting, your family stop calling and the people that have always been there for you seem to disappear...
This isn't because they don't care it is more likely that they don't know what to say.. They knew you before all of this happened and whether you choose to admit it yet, you are no longer that same person and you never will be again. Your friends and family don't know this 'new person' and don't know how to make you happy, where you can and can't go, what your schedule has now become and all the new needs and stresses your life now brings with it..
Whilst your life has stood still in the moment of diagnosis, the hospital visits and the treatments.. theirs have carried on. They no doubt have their own issues, stresses and changes happening around them but they will worry about burdening you with all of this and feel insignificant in comparison. You can pretend that you care, but we all know *sometimes* we do find ourselves internally rolling our eyes when somebody posts on Facebook that their life is over because "they've run out of cheese for the party" but that doesn't mean it hurts any less when they unfriend you even though you haven't said anything wrong. Is might be that you just simply haven't said anything at all..
You'll probably find yourself avoiding them at points.. Shutting down, rarely commenting or posting on Facebook and hiding from the world are just some of the things we all do in our moments of absolute despair and when your friends and family don't reach out or visit you get upset and then shut them out more then of course making the situation worse as they will assume you want to be alone. Fact is nobody wants to be alone so if you're a friend of a family with a sick child PLEASE just send them a message occasionally.. they aren't deliberately 'not caring' about you they are simply overwhelmed and probably feeling a bit hermit like!
The absolute truth is that NOBODY understands what you are going through except maybe those that have been there or are still going through it themselves.. but then sometimes we don't want life to be all about these illnesses every day and we want some normality to be built around the chaos! That's where making new friends can help.. if you feel strong enough to go out there and make some! They will understand from the outset who you now are and what your life entails. You don't have to relive horrible events if you choose not to but you get to say.. "This is me, this is my sick child and this is our life. I'm not looking for sympathy or to talk about it I just want to focus on enjoying life. We are free at these points and we can do these things if you're interested I'd love to be friends and meet up?"
Feeling alone during the hardest parts of your life can be tough for anybody and you may be feeling like people don't care. If you feel this way then I sympathise with you and I send you a virtual hug.. <3
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