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CancerCare is a national nonprofit organization that provides professional support services to anyone affected by cancer: people with cancer, caregivers, children, loved ones, and the bereaved.
Every month, in their "Reading Room", a featured expert will answer common questions about coping with a cancer diagnosis. You can submit your own question or just take advantage of the many Q&A topics they have available online.
Here is the link:
(VISIT LINK)
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Cancer may seem like a topic that can can be put off for discussion until your child is old enough to understand what it means. That is, until cancer strikes your family.
When Cindy Hurst of Phoenix, Arizona was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 42, she faced the daunting task of breaking it to her 4 year old daughter. Her ideas, along with the ideas of other parents are inspiring. Click the link below to read the entire article.
'Honey, Mommy has cancer.'
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"The best gift we can give our children is not protection from the world, but the confidence and tools to cope and grow with all that life has to offer them."
-- Wendy Schlessel Harpham, MD
-- Author, When a Parent Has Cancer
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) went into effect on July 1, 2005. The law is designed to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them "free and appropriate public education" to meet their unique needs and prepare them for future education and independent living.
Some children who have received treatment for cancer may have certain learning issues either due to the therapy itself or due to which kind of cancer they have.
You can work with your school and care team to start this process to help transition a child coping with cancer back into the classroom.
For more information, visit this link.
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A cancer diagnosis in a child changes the dynamic for the whole family, not just the ill child. Keeping communication lines open is critical because children will fill in information gaps on their own or try to get answers in some way. Don't be surprised if your kids do the following:
* Complaining of being ill to get attention
* Magical thinking (it is my fault my brother/sister got sick)
* Being jealous
* Being fearful
According to the team from Roswell park, some things you can do for your well child:
* Maintain routines
* Keep family celebrations when possible
* Let siblings talk to the care team
* Bring in extra support (friend, extended family) who can help the healthy child maintain activities
* Reach out to the schools to increase support for your children
Don't be afraid to ask your care team for help as well.
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Roswell Park Cancer Institute offers a range of supportive materials that can be accessed through www.roswellpark.org or the Carly's Club (www.carlysclub.org). The National Cancer Institute also offers many resources to help you cope with a diagnosis of cancer in your child.
You know your child better than anyone else - your child's personality, how your child copes with unknown situations and fear, what makes your child laugh or cry. You know what works best - how to humor and talk to your child and how to help your child relax. Try to remember that you are a key part of your child's treatment.
More children than ever are surviving childhood cancer. Over the last 30 years, survival into adulthood increased from 30 percent to 80 percent. There are new and better drugs and methods to help children deal with the side effects of treatment. And children who have had cancer now have a better quality of life throughout childhood and into adulthood; fewer long-term ill effects follow the treatment.
Yet, in spite of all this good news, cancer is still a serious disease. You are not alone in facing your fears; help is available. A treatment team - doctors, radiation therapists, rehabilitation specialists, dietitians, oncology nurses, and social workers, among others - can help you and your child deal with the disease. They will also help ensure that your child gets the best treatment available with as few ill effects as possible. Resources such as this booklet provide information on childhood cancers and their treatment, suggestions on how to make your child as comfortable and as pain-free as possible, and advice on how to make time for family and friends.
To learn more, read this pamphlet from the National Cancer Institute.