Jennifer-You e-mailed my daughter who is only 8 with SWCAH and she was so excited to hear from someone for the first time!  Here you are reaching out for help for yourself and you are still able to reach out to others!  It means so much.  At 8, my daughter is very responsible about her meds, but I try not to make her too responsible yet-she is still young and needs the adult to keep track.  She knows all about her condition too, at a level she can understand, but lately wants to know more details.  I had her check out the John Hopkins website for kids and she was quite responsive to it.  We are also making a list of questions that she wants to ask her ped endo for the August check-up.  The power of support from others is very real.  As parents, my husband and I don’t want to over-emphasize the CAH, but she needs to know how important it is to keep up with meds, learn how she feels, let someone know she doesn’t feel well, etc.  And while we don’t want to always treat her as though she is different, she already does feel different, and I don’t know if that is just a natural occurence or something we did or didn’t do as parents.  I try to always be open to answering any questions my daughter may have, but also keep talking to her and giving her the information she needs, at a level she can understand.  Keep reaching out Jennifer, because you have a lot to offer others while getting some support for yourself!

Pamela