In the Shadows – How to Help Your Seriously Ill Adult Child

In the Shadows
251 Pages
ISBN 978-1-935864-27-1

Parents of adult children are often caught in a complicated world of conflicting demands and expectations. Even when a child has reached independence, the parental instinct is to nurture and protect the child from pain at all costs. The challenges are magnified in the event that the child is experiencing serious illness. How does a parent interact with the child's spouse? How much information can a parent reasonably expect, given strict healthcare privacy laws? What kind of help is most appreciated, and how much is too much?

In the Shadows provides real-world stories from parents, their adult children, and professionals on the challenges of this complex situation. Ten chapters provide, insight and resources on such topics as parenting adult children, managing other important relationships, emotional responses to having an ill child, providing physical care to an ill child, financial concerns in serious illness, self-care, communication challenges, spirituality, navigating the healthcare system, and coping with your child's prognosis. Having an ill child of any age is difficult. These stories and advice can help to shed light and guide parents out of the shadows to provide the best help and support possible.

Patricia Ringos Beach

About Patricia Ringos Beach (Toledo, Ohio Author)

Patricia Ringos Beach

Patricia Ringos Beach, a Clinical Nurse Specialist and Patient Navigator for the Mercy Health Cancer Program holds advanced certification in oncology and palliative care nursing. She received a diploma in nursing from St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing in Youngstown, OH. Although Patti later went on to receive a BSN from Capital University in Columbus, OH and an MSN from Medical College of Ohio in Toledo, she considers her diploma nursing education as “when she became a nurse.” Insights discovered watching her daughter attend a contemporary BSN program led Patti to work with her four co-authors to bring the memories and legacy of diploma school nursing to a wider audience.

Through her career, she has worked in intensive care and oncology patient care settings and as an instructor at Toledo Hospital School of Nursing where she met her co-authors. In both her nursing and writing she hopes to help others and allow them to be heard. She is particularly proud of being part of the team to erect the BEFORE I DIE…board in the Toledo warehouse district and of writing with Beth White the American Journal of Nursing award-winning In the Shadows: Helping your Seriously Ill Adult Child.

She and her husband Dan live in Toledo where they loved raising their two daughters. Her interests include enjoying family and friends, hiking, biking, and scrapbooking.

Beth E. Heinzeroth White

About Beth E. Heinzeroth White (Co-Author)

Beth E. Heinzeroth White

Beth E. Heinzeroth White is a registered nurse and pediatric clinical nurse specialist. Her books focus on nursing as a profession and nursing care of parents and children. She has co-authored each of two books with colleagues from the Toledo, Ohio area.

Beth has over 40 years experience in nursing as a clinician, educator and quality improvement consultant; her writing reflects a deep understanding of nursing and the effect of health on patients of all ages and their families. She has two grown daughters and lives in Sylvania, Ohio.

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