Everything You Want to Know About EA/TEF, But Are Afraid to Ask
2015’s EA/TEF Awareness Month is drawing to a close, so this post is the season’s last hurrah. Consider it a filling in of any gaps left by this month’s EA/TEF guest bloggers–Christine, Ami, Jolene, and Maggie–who shared their stories and wisdom gleaned as parents of kids with the same congenital esophageal anomaly – an abnormality none of us had heard of before our children’s diagnoses. And since EA/TEF occurs in only 1 of every 2,500–3,500 births, few people in the general public have heard of it either.
Therefore, today’s EA/TEF Awareness Month wrap up is a collection of links to previous Different Dream EA/TEF posts about the condition–some humorous, some informational, and some that will tug at your heartstrings. Are you ready?
Heartstring Tugger EA/TEF Posts
To start things off, here’s a list of tug-at-your-heartstrings posts written by moms of kids with EA/TEF:
- These top ten reasons to mark EA/TEF Awareness Month tug at Jolene’s heartstrings (especially #1), and she hopes they tug at yours, too.
- The deadline for this book giveaway has long since passed, but the reasons Jolene writes what she writes are as real and intense as ever.
Informational EA/TEF Articles
Now that your emotions are engaged, check out these links filled with informational brain food:
- Different Dream’s first ever post, circa 2011, on the topic is found at January is EA/TEF Awareness Month. It’s a “just the facts” kind of post, a good place to start.
- A week later, Lori McGahan wrote this guest post explaining The Birth of 2011’s EA/TEF Awareness Month.
- This July 27, 2011 post about EA/TEF information cards provides links to where the cards can be purchased. The cards are a great way to gently inform the general public about our kids’ rattling breathing, tendency to vomit or choke, and that barky cough that sounds like croup, but isn’t.
- This post about the history of medical treatment of EA/TEF is a fascinating read.
- 2014’s EA/TEF Awareness Month post offers links to websites with more information about the condition.
Humorous EA/TEF Pieces
And finally, to leave you laughing, here are some tickle-your-funny-bones offerings:
- Guest blogger Christine Lester’s humorous series titled You Might Be the Parent of a Child with EA/TEF If…Part One and Part Two were hits with readers when they first appeared in 2011 and still are today.
- Again, Christine Lester proves to be EA/TEF Comedy Central with Why Christine Lester Almost Missed EA/TEF Awareness Month, Part One and Part Two, which give others a peek into the medical fragility of our kids.
- Last but not least, Jolene’s top ten signs you’re the parent of an adult child with EA/TEF, all of which ring true to her today.
What EA/TEF Links Would You Add?
Have you written or read a something about EA/TEF that should be added to this collection? Tell about it it and its author in the comment box below. And please leave the link, so others can benefit from it, too. Thanks!
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By Jolene
Jolene Philo is the author of the Different Dream series for parents of kids with special needs. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. She’s also the creator and host of the Different Dream website. Sharing Love Abundantly With Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman, was released in August of 2019 and is available at local bookstores, their bookstore website, and at Amazon.
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