Newly Diagnosed 9 Yr. Old Depressed

[Kara'sMom]

Hi,

My DD is 9 and was diagnosed at the end of October. She is doing pretty well but I still can't take her to the store. The last 3 times she went with me..she left in tears (and me too)! She was very depressed after being diagnosed. Sometimes she'd cry in the car b/c she said she just couldn't hold it in any longer. I felt horrible b/c she was trying to be strong for US. Maybe it's different with girls, but her entire class has been very supportive of her. Not one person has been mean. Then again, I sub there (and often her class) so they know I'd beat them up. LOL Seriously, they asked me a lot of questions and I explained it to them. They felt sorry for her and are nice. Often she says her friends will look at her lunch (most of the time left overs from dinner) and will comment on how good it looks. That really makes her feel good. I havent' done this yet....(and maybe you could do this,too)..but the cafeteria manager approached me about sitting down with her and some lady from county office to go over anything Kara might be interested in eating from the menu. Such as..the fajita's without the shell, the hard shell tacos, etc. We're going to find out all the ingredients to see what she can have. She hasn't eaten there, of course, since October. But at least it MAY be an option.

As far as her hiding it. She kinda bragged about the endoscope. HA HA She did have a session with the school counselor to see how she was handling it. And she doesn't know this yet...but in April, she's going to get a BIG award called The Shining Star award b/c the counselor and principal nominated her for being brave about everything and for everything she's gone and going through. So they wanted to (slyly) make sure that if the entire school knew...she'd be ok with it. So I asked her one day if she cared who knew and she said no. So hopfully that'll go well.

Tell your son that he is not alone..there is a 9 year old girl going through the same emotions he is.

I also have a great recipe for doughnuts. If you want it..let me know.

Good luck!

Still a newbie myself,

Mary