Barb's Daily Dose

Journeys of Heartache and Grace: Conversations and Life Lessons from Young People with Serious Illnesses

Our Guest Writer Today is Melody Chatelle, PhD, Author, and President of Chatelle and Associates

Journeys of Heartache and Grace – Conversations and Life Lessons from Young People with Serious Illnesses stems from author Melody Chatelle’s personal, one-on-one interviews with young people ages 6 – 20 living with life-threatening illnesses in amazingly strong, determined, and honest ways.  All of the stories are powerful, practical and paint a hopeful portrait of times we all face involving serious illnesses of loved ones or ourselves.  Dr. Chatelle offers suggestions from the stories including specific phrases on what to say and what not to say during tough times.  Although taken from the perspective of young people, the strategies and lessons apply to people of all ages. 

Michael's Story From Susan

After waiting years to find the right person, I was surprised and happy that at 44, my IVF cycle worked and that I was pregnant.  Then, you can imagine how ecstatic I was to hear the news of twins. That joy  was multiplied when I saw not one, but 2 beating hearts during an ultrasound and found out that I was carrying a boy and a girl!  Who could ask for anything more! We decided to name the babies, Michael and Alyssa. 

I knew that I would need monthly ultrasounds because of the twins, and wasn’t too concerned with the increased frequency.  It was a great way to see the babies. It seemed that Michael’s head circumstance was much larger than his sister’s and getting larger at each appointment.

Every baby is different, and still I wasn’t buying into the fact that something could be dreadfully wrong.  I was not given any clear answers during these appointments, the answers were kind of vague, so what could be so wrong, right?