Chronic “Life-Threatening” Illness in Childhood and Adolescence: Developmental, Cognitive and Psychotherapeutic Considerations in the Care of Children Facing Open-Heart Surgery — Selected Isreaeli Experience

Abstract

When an infant, child, adolescent, or indeed adult patient comes to a hospital, he or she is not just the incidental carrier of a disease process or lesion that is intended to be treated, possibly corrected, or even more optimistically cured. He or she is not measles, rheumatic fever, asthma, diabetes mellitus, osteogenic sarcoma, an optic leoma, a detached retina, a convulsive disorder, nephrotic syndrome, or even a sore throat or a runny nose. That child, adolescent or adult is, indeed, an impressionable human being and a member of a family who are all very much interested not only in that patient’s blood sugar curve, leukocyte count, or in the outcome of any EKG, EEG, echocardiogram, brain scan, electroretinogram, or indeed even a bone marrow aspiration or an aortic, mitral or tricuspid valve prosthetic replacement or correction, but very much more profoundly in the human being that that patient is.

The present paper is an edited version of Dr. Becker’s recorded presentation. Due to his untimely death, the original manuscript was unavailable.

Every effort was made to preserve Dr. Becker’s exact words and style of writing. However full justice to his contribution was not possible since much of his lecture involved the presentation of slides.

The typescript was edited by Dr. Katz. The editor is grateful to Roerig Division, Pfizer, Inc. for facilitating publication of the paper.