FCS in the family
Discovering that someone in the family has FCS will have an impact on all the family members. The amount of impact and how much their lives will also change will depend on how old the individual was at diagnosis, and what family role they play.
Understanding how the restrictions of the condition affects your family member can help with understanding how these restrictions also affect your life, if sometimes only in a small way.
Feeling irritated by the constraints that will sometimes also affect you, is completely normal and understandable. Younger children may need support to come to terms with a sibling's diagnosis, and reassurance that the extra support their sibling receives from family members does not necessarily constitute favouritism.
Catering for patients with FCS means understanding the severity of the restrictions and their importance. For patients whose family culture includes large family gatherings where the provision of food are regular occurrences, need the support of their wider family and friends to hep them to be able to safely participate in family events.
FCS will impact everyone in the family to some degree.
My partner has FCS
Being the partner of someone with FCS will mean that you are also affected by the condition and the limitations it imposes.
How the condition within relationships varies from couple to couple. Many partners have told us that when with their partner, their food choices closely match that of the patient. They report that this makes cooking easier, allows the sharing of food, and helps to limit the temptations for the patient.
Watching their partner suffer bouts of abdominal pain and pancreatitis can also be difficult. If the patient needs to be hospitalised this can disrupt plans, and if you have young children, will mean that contingency plans need to be employed.
Learning about the condition and increasing your understanding of the impact it has on the patient can help you to work together to develop ways to minimise the symptom burden of the patient, allowing for the two of you to lead a fuller life together.
