Support groups are one of the most helpful things I’ve found to keep my sanity. There’s nothing quite like sitting down and talking through your problems with people that deal with the same issues you do each and every day. I vaguely remember what it was like before I joined them, but mostly its a blur. I knew nothing about tube feeding when they placed my son’s nasal gastric (NG) tube in the hospital. If not for our home care nurse coming once a week I would’ve been completely and utterly lost.

A few people have told me I appear to be handling things really well and have my life together. I thought about why, and it’s because of my support network I’m able to stay calm and keep going. Without them my sanity would scatter to the wind within a matter of days.

I’ve explicitly listed the benefits, as I see them, to joining a support group. While I won’t insist this is the best thing for everyone to do, it’s absolutely something to consider. I don’t know what I would do without the people that support me each and every day by sharing information and answering questions when needed.

1. Talking things out helps your mind process them, and who better to do this with than people with similar problems?
2. You know you’re not alone, even if your support is online.
3. You’ll get helpful hints and tips you didn’t know you needed.
4. Learning from others’ mistakes is a lot easier than making all of them yourself.

If you’re into Facebook, I’ve listed support groups for failure to thrive (FTT) children and feeding difficulties. So far they’re all closed groups. When you join them other people will see you joined, but your posts won’t show up on other people’s news feeds unless they’re also a member of the group. If you know of others, please share them in the comments here or on the page itself. I’ll update the page periodically to reflect additional resources.