Hi Halle,
I know what you mean. I am one of three girls and both of my sisters have CAH. I'm old enough now that I don't have to go, but when I was younger I always had to go to the hospital every year to be tested. I was little and scared and didn't like going to the hospital, but my sisters would get really angry if I complained. They had to go 4 times a year and I only had to go once. They also hated having to take medicine and shots and got jealous because I didn't have to.
It was definitely tough sometimes to have them angry at me. Sometimes I even wanted to have CAH too so that they would accept me. In the end though, I am glad to be healthy. I am glad to know that I don't have to deal with some of the hard things that my sisters have to deal with.
One good thing about being the healthy one was that I got to take care of my sisters when they were sick. Whenever they didn't feel good, I would help my mom make crushed ice for them and take them their medicine. My mom even taught me how to give injections by practicing on an orange so that I would know how if either of them had an emergency and she wasn't around.
Now that I am older, I am taking all of that experience and going to medical school. In a few years, I will be that doctor in the hospital helping sick kids. I tell my sisters that it is because of them and they kind of like that. We get along really well now.
I guess what I'm trying to tell you is to hang in there. Your brother will eventually get over being angry at you and realize that you care a lot about him. My sisters certainly did. In the meantime little acts of kindness can help a lot, doing things for him, taking care of him when he doesn't feel good. I don't know how old you two are, but maybe you could read him a story to distract him while he gets his shots. If he's older maybe you can make him cookies on a day when he has to go to the hospital. Anything like that will go a long way toward helping him understand that even though you don't have CAH you are still his loving sister and that gives you more in common than just about anything else could.
I hope this helps. Feel free to email ecell2@wm.edu if you want to talk some more.
~Izzi
