Palejovo ABCs - SAFETY

In the face of a child's difficulties, the family has to rearrange its entire life and face a challenging reality. In the process of diagnosis and treatment, parents sometimes have to face the information that their child will never be fully healthy. Accepting this can sometimes be extremely difficult, because every parent in his or her heart wants the child they are waiting for to be born healthy. Coming to terms with the disease is a process that is worth giving yourself time for, as well as surrounding yourself then with kind people to whom you can cry and talk honestly about the difficult thoughts that may arise.

It can be helpful at such times to connect with families who have had similar experiences. Their knowledge, understanding of the disease and the means by which they cope on a daily basis can bring relief to parents who are just embarking on the path of treatment for their child. Such people can suggest where to seek help, who to go to, where to get the funds needed for treatment. After all, sometimes there is a situation in which the possibility of treatment in the country or the use of public health services ends. Then parents face the need to organize collections. The organization of festivals and charity fundraising events often falls on the shoulders of one parent - most often the mother. Asking strangers for money for treatment is not easy. It's a difficult moment that often causes embarrassment or a sense of humiliation. Critical thoughts about themselves, other people or the world may arise in the caregiver's mind. Sometimes unpleasant situations occur, when the bad feeling is further aggravated by unpleasant words directed to the parents by more or less strangers. At such moments, the feeling of loneliness and helplessness even becomes difficult to bear. All positive experiences are suppressed and covered up by hurtful sentences uttered by people who have no idea of what the parents and child are facing.

Painful words and events stick more firmly in the memory. Our brain has developed such an ability, or rather a tendency to focus on bad events. This is, of course, a protective function - it warns us of dangers, but at the same time makes it difficult to see the good around us. And while it's not easy and doesn't come easily or quickly at all, it's nevertheless worth cultivating good experiences and memories associated with heartfelt people and situations. Knowing how our mind functions, we can consciously redirect our attention to words and experiences that were helpful or kind to us.