title: So you are thinking of having a gastrostomy?
abstract: In this article Lauren, who is 10 years old, writes a letter to Victoria, a friend who is thinking about having a gastrostomy. Lauren describes why she needed a gastrostomy and about the operation she had. In her letter she talks about how much better she feels since she had her gastrostomy placed. She writes about the advantages of having medicines put down the tube, and tries to reassure other children about gastrostomies. One of Lauren's nurses sets the scene and explains why Lauren wrote the letter in the first place.
authors.affiliation: CHASE Children's Hospice Service, Guildford, Surrey, UK. julie@chasecare.org.uk
authors.lastname: Lauren
authors.forename: Vivienne
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wheeler
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005774:Gastrostomy / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010371:Pediatric Nursing; D002666:Psychology, Child