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A bad lump. The black spot. Little cells behaving badly.
There?s no shortage of euphemisms for describing cancer to children, regardless of age or stage. Before parents pick one, though, they need to make sure they have a good grasp of what they?re facing and what the treatment will entail.
?You have to put on your own oxygen mask before you can help your children,? says Morgan Livingstone, a Toronto-based child life specialist who counsels kids and families coping with cancer. ?When Mom gets the news she has cancer, it?s always, ?What do I do to help my kids with this"? But first you have to get comfortable with the concepts and the words in your mouth.?
There are plenty of kid-friendly books to help with this, including The Kids? Guide to Mommy?s Breast Cancer by Karyn Stowe and Livingstone?s own Talking to Your Kids About Breast Cancer: A Guide for Parents, published by Rethink Breast Cancer. For more living resources visit rethinkbreastcancer.com. Many families choose to summon someone like Livingstone. She shows up on doorsteps Mary Poppins-style, with a big bag of props?puppets with chemo lines, a Barbie-sized MRI table, dolls with Hickman lines that get real needles?and a mandate to educate kids on Mom?s cancer experience through play. For older kids, she has video games starring Captain Chemo, who teams with crew members named after some of the other cancer drugs used to fight the disease.
The key to helping kids cope well, Livingstone says...