More letters!

This site is so, so wonderful.  Thanks for providing a place that the whole family can go to and receive facts and fun.  Angels are everywhere! 

Hi,  I am 13 years old.  I do not have a medical problem and I do not know anyone who does.  But I still really love your website.  I have wondered for a long time what kids feel like when they have a serious medical problem.  Your site helped me to understand.  I also know now that if I ever meet someone who has an illness, it will be okay to ask them about it.  It also makes me feel good to know that if I ever get very sick (which I hope I never do) I would have somewhere to go to for support outside of family and friends.

I'm mighty impressed! I think you're providing a fantastic service; I described your website to a colleague as kind of the online health equivalent to Anne Frank's Diary!  Your writing is lively, aptly targeted to kids, and meshes quite well with the design. Anyway, I can't say enough good things about your site.

Your website is a validation and godsend.

I am 10 years old and I liked the hospital tour on your site. It really helped me when I had to go into the hospital last week. Maybe  someday I can be on here helping other kids.

Your site "Blackboards and Bandaides" is WONDERFUL...The graphics, layout and content are family and kid friendly, and we have found it useful in my work, as well.

Thank you for designing such an interesting and informative web page. What a wonderful idea to combine the children's own stories with tips for teachers, etc.  Thanks for an excellent resource!

Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your website!  What a great resource for kids and parents. The hospital tour was super.

I had a look around your web site today. I was impressed by how well the site worked but more impressed by the potential usefulness of the information it contained. I think that the site would be genuinely useful for anyone working with sick children. Thanks so much!

Totally cool! Your site is THE BEST!

I just wanted you to know that this site is fantastic.  I'm currently in graduate school getting my Master's in Child Life and I was very impressed with your site.  It deals with so many issues we see in Child Life and I think your approach to children's illnesses and related issues is great.  Thanks for all your work.

I just found your Home Page today while surfing links. How I wish I had it available 22 years ago when my daughter was born with a rare hemoglobinopathy.  As I read the stories from both children and adults on your site, tears filled my eyes as I re-experienced her life through the experiences of others. I can't wait to show this site to her.  I know she will find a lot of comfort in knowing she has not been alone.  Thank you, thank you.

Congratulations on your hard work and brilliant idea for your website "Band-Aides and Black Boards." 

I've just visited your site on the internet.  Thank you so much for  creating this.  My son has been taking growth hormone injections since he was 18 months old.  I thank God daily he has something that is treatable in this manner.  I never realized how all  the testing in the beginning and all the appointments now could effect my older son who was an only child for six years.  After reading your "A Note From Jeffrey" it hit me why I've seen the major changes in him over the last year or so.  Thank you so much.  I'm heading to the library to try and find some of the sibling books you've suggested.  Thanks again.  You're a blessing.

Wow! This is one incredible website! Congratulations! Thanks!
And keep up the good work!

I want to thank you for all your work. It must help many people with sick children.  You made a difference in our family.  I wanted you to know that.

I think what you're doing is wonderful! Wish you were around when I was a kid. Good Luck to you, and God Bless.

Tonight my son wanted a "private conversation" with me. He's being teased at school and is extremely hurt and upset. I didn't really know how to handle it or what to say, but I found your site and that will help both of us. I just wanted you to know how wonderful the design of it is in addition to the informative message.  Thank you for making it available!

I just recently visited your site for the first time.....I am so impressed with the content, appearence and depth of information found there. Thank you for the service you provide.

I absolutely love your site and am so thrilled to find such useful advise and also to know that my little guy is not the only one with an unusual disorder.

WOW!   The site's WONDERFUL!    In two minutes of perusing, I found three stories that will make a difference for 8 kids I can think of off-hand.  Thanks so much for making this possible. As you can no doubt tell, I'm really excited about what I found.  I'm really grateful for the chance to reach some of these kids who end up adding depression (sadness?!) to the disease process because they feel so isolated.

I was compelled to write a little note to express my appreciation and excitement regarding your web site and support links....what a School Nurse's dream!!!!   I am the Coordinator of Health Services for Lancaster School District, in Lancaster, CA; and stumbled onto your marvelous collection of stories and links while searching for information to share with foster parents, school nurses, and the Board of Trustees during various upcoming presentations.  I plan to spend a great deal of time exploring your site....thank you for the inspiration and reminder of the reasons to cherish and serve the needs of the children!

I asked my students to find and evaluate a website that would be valuable to educators.  Your site was one that was submitted.  I had to write to tell you what a wonderful site you have developed.  As a mother of a child with cancer, I found this to be so helpful.  I plan to pass on the address to the school nurse and the clinic social worker at the hospital. 

Your site has been a wonderful resource.  Thank you for all your work and CARING. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your creative work on this greatsite...

In my opinion, you are to your profession what Gerald R Brown is to Teacher-Librarians - I hope others appreciate your vision and I am grateful for your expertise in the medical field.  Thank you for being a true networker - this is what I believe will keep medicine/education, indeed all human endeavor apace with new and old problems which are arising in greater numbers. 

I'd like to compliment you on an excellent site. I am a blind high school student using msie302 with speech technology, and am having no problems accessing your site, as the alt text tags are well-placed. You wouldn't believe how great that is. I am really 'medicophobic', and learned a lot on your pages! Thanks!

I LOVE the idea behind your site, and you've done a great job putting it into practice! I think sites like yours really justify the existence of the internet, because they broaden people's horizons and foster communication and understanding. Congratulations and thank you for making this excellent addition to the Web!

Thank you for such an inspirational web site. As a pediatric nurse, I have used a lot of this information for my patients and their parents. It's amazing how you've captured the feeling of patient, siblings, and parents. Thanks for all the great material! My patients thank you as well. Good luck to you!!

Just had to drop you a note and tell you how impressed I was with the Bandaides and Blackboards website that you have created.  Thank you for sharing this valuable information with the public!

I was one of those children who was teased when I was little.  Even though teasing will still goes on, now children can now look to see what the diseases really are.   Thank you for putting all of your time and effort into producing this page. Very well done!

I'm a web producer at a communications company and have been researching for hours to find a well designed and great content website. I've definitely found it in yours, Excellent Job!

Your web site is wonderful.  As a school nurse I  found the information very valuable.  I have forwarded the site address to several of my parents of children with chronic illnesses.  Your links to Federal Law and SSI are great.  Thank you for developing such an informative site.

Hola Joan! Felicidades por tu maravillosa labor. Sigue adelante !!!

I'd like to congratualate you on your truly commendable web page, it was a joy reading the "amazing trivia about the body" section. Congratulations on the great site.

Your site, in so many ways, represents a prototype of how one should address differences - factually, openly and with sensitivity. If I, as a general ed teacher, had the opportunity to incorporate your various websites into my curriculum, I'd do it in a flash!

Your data needs to get to the schools, to the *teachers* as well as to the students. Thank you for doing such a beautiful thing for those who have many problems...
 

I am the School Nurse at an elementary school in Virginia and absolutely love your website.  Our school has approximately 450 children and this site is exactly what the Dr. ordered. !!  Thanks a million.

We have many children in this school with a wide range of disabilities and illnesses.  Even though the Dr. sends orders on emergency procedures and general maintenance instructions, your site offers the human side and so much more information.  I plan on reading each and every word this summer.  I will share this website with the teachers and all the clinic nurses in the County. I know they will love it as much as I do.

We are so impressed with the site!  The stories are very moving and inspirational.  What a wonderful way to lend comfort and understanding to children dealing with an illness.  We have found that it does indeed help for children to know that there are other children out there who are going through similar circumstances and that they are not alone.  Our hats off to you for undertaking such a worthwhile endeavor!

I stumbled onto your web site by accident but I am so glad that I did. What a wonderful idea you have!!  Kids and parents need a site like this to click onto to get some answers, help and support. It is not easy being a sick child, or a parent of one. So I just wanted to say thank you for doing this. 

I came across your web page entirely by accident and I just wanted to send you my compliments.  The suggestions on dealing with illness, teaching children how to react to unwell people etc. are wonderful. Thank you!

Thanks for the great website!!!!  I was searching for articles for my students to learn to relate to each other and your website is fantastic.

I love your site and I think it is great that you created a place where sick kids could feel comfortable sharing stories, fears, and learning from others. 

I've just had a look around Band-Aides and Blackboards - it's wonderful!  I just love the concept of encouraging kids to have fun and be light-hearted in hospital.

I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your site, and that I appreciate you taking the time to put it together.  I have printed off your site map, and will be putting it in my files, so that I can use this site in the classroom.  I just wanted to tell you that I appreciated your work.  Thanks!

I cannot remember how  I ran into your web page...all  I know is that I'm glad I did..it is one of the most beautiful pages I have ever found on the net. Please, keep your site alive!!!

A friend read an article about you and your terrific Web site for kids and passed that article on to me. What a wonderful forum you are presenting for kids--and such an amazing way for them to find one another. 

Want to read some more letters? Eight more pages...


 To the frog ponds
 To send your comments
 To the site map

Joan Fleitas, Ed.D., R.N.
 Associate Professor of Nursing, Lehman College, CUNY
 Bronx, New York 10468

  Last updated: January 29, 2009