10 Tips for Delivering Difficult Pediatric Diagnoses

While a diagnosis discussion may be one encounter of many in your day, it is a moment that we parents will remember forever.

On August 12, 2013, my five-week-old daughter was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. I distinctly recall the feeling of “Everything has changed.” I had worked in the field of chronic disease for almost a decade. And yet, it had never occurred to me that this would happen. Other people’s kids might be sick, but not mine. Not my baby.

I remember our first day in the cystic fibrosis clinic like it was yesterday. I cried in the parking garage and struggled to nurse my daughter in the waiting room. And then it happened. That moment is forever etched in my mind. The pediatric pulmonologist took my hands, looked me in the eye, and said, “Your daughter is going to live a long and full life.” She went on to say that it was her job as a physician and my role as a parent to help enable this.