Randall S Beach

Shadow Child Randall S Beach

A story of the impact of childhood chronic disease on siblings and families. Each year, thousands of families are faced with the specter of childhood chronic disease. Despite often being labeled as "lucky ones," childhood chronic diseases take a severe toll on the healthy brothers and sisters of the sick child. Feelings of fear, jealousy, resentment and extraordinary responsibility are common among such healthy siblings. These children and young adults can feel emotionally neglected within the family structure. Shadow Child explores all of these impacts in the context of the author's relationship with his younger brother. Shadow Child is the story of the author's personal experience as a healthy sibling of a brother inflicted with Type 1 Diabetes when he was four years old (preceded by Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis when he was two). The book focuses on the impact that chronic diseases such as diabetes have on the families of the inflicted child, and explores how various interfamily relationships change due to the introduction of chronic disease.