Don't Forget the Siblings

by Misty VanderWeele

Don't Forget the Siblings; Growing up on the Sidelines of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy contains the heart-warming and sometimes heart-breaking stories of 20 families. These stories chronicle what Duchenne siblings go through on a regular basis from childhood into adulthood. The hard reality is that Duchenne Siblings grow up knowing that they will most likely see their brother or sister die unless a cure is found. The Duchenne siblings who are left are the final witnesses. They have no choice but to stand by and watch Duchenne ravage their sibling's bodies. They watch their parents grieve while they themselves try to navigate the turmoil. They will have to deal with Duchenne for the rest of their lives.

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 27, 2014

Reviews

[Sheri Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would feel ridiculously wrong for me to give anything less than a 5-star rating for this book. This is the first time I've read a book about people with Duchenne and this one is specifically the stories from siblings of Duchenne which is exactly who I am. It was good, but also hard to read about others in the same shoes. Lori, who edited the book, sent it to my sister for free from a Facebook group. Her 3 children are pictured on the cover, Sam, Lydia, and Ben.

My one critique of the book is that because it is a bunch of stories by different writers, it doesn't have one continuous storyline which would generally be my preference when reading a book. These types of books have their place too, I guess.