>>> [log in to unmask] 09/20/00 03:51PM >>>

Something that troubles me deeply is when a parent obtains their own
identity through their child(ren)'s medical problems.  It's kind of like
soccer parents who obtain some sense of self-worth because their kids do
well on the playing field.  I guess because these are inundated with large
amounts of medical data on a daily basis, their vocabulary tends to revolve
around the ubiquitous acronyms of medicalese.  Methinks it's a casualty of
our "information age."

To those parents who might be offended by this--speaking as one who has
passed through the fire of growing up with a disability--your children will
have a hard enough time "fitting in" without the albatross of one acronym or
another slung 'round their necks.

Respectfully,
Kyle>>>>>

Kyle (& others)

I felt I should address this as it was probably my tag line from my HBOT (another acronym, lol) that sparked this thread. I usually don't use that on this list for exactly that reason. 

On other lists it is helpful to share such info as it helps people identify with one another. Another parent of a preemie, one interested in HBO, one with multiples or one who may have lost a child will know that they can connect with me to discuss shared experiences. It is really just a little recap of my intro. 

Your point is a good one though about getting caught up in the jargon. From Day 1 with my children (triplets born 10 weeks early each weighing 3 lbs or under) we were innundated with medical jargon. For the first 3 weeks we were treated as visitors rather than parents in the neo-natal ICU. We had to learn the lingo or risk not knowing what was going on with our sons. I am a nurse but that didn't help much since I work in adult psychiatry - about as far removed from apnea monitors and incubators as you can get, lol. We had to make a conscious effort to stop using a lot of the terms and "medicalese" once the boys were finally allowed to come home. Now aside from talking to docs and therapists and on other listserves, Anthony just has CP. In fact, sometimes I even forget that (it's just the way he is), so he's just a typical (dare I say normal?) 3 year-old! Which is another whole tag line of acronyms.

Yvonne
Mommy to Anthony (3 years old...$!#!*!@$^**)