This poem is drawn from personal experience of having a sick child and from talking to other patients in a similar position. It is inevitable to focus all the attention on the sick person when illness strikes and it is easy to forget how the effects on one person’s life are intimately bound to many others. This poem took me on a rather painful journey back to a very emotional time. I remember how a nurse told me that the child may be the patient but all those who support the child also require care. I felt that being ‘allowed’ to have feelings of ‘not coping’ was very empowering and was not a sign of weakness but a natural journey I had to take to allow myself to accept the illness in my child. I hope that by exploring such feelings it will allow me to start to appreciate the web of people affected by illness.