As Amber Pywell watched her children enjoy a carefree afternoon splashing around the pool, she ran through how she was going to break the news to them that she has thyroid cancer. Do I tell them how scared I am" Do I tell them I might not see their next birthdays" How will I hold myself together"
Pywell, who lives in Cobble Hill, BC, had been diagnosed that morning, and she wanted to have just one more normal day with her daughters, eight-year-old Kaylen and six-year-old Hannah, and two-year-old son, Carter, before telling them that their world was about to change.
Pywell figured that she would have a better chance of maintaining her composure if she told her kids without her husband present. Before bedtime, she sat down with Hannah and Kaylen and asked them what they remembered from past conversations about loved ones who had cancer. Pywell reminded them that all cancers are different and some can be cured. She then explained that the doctor had discovered that the lump in her neck was thyroid cancer. She pointed it out and let her daughters touch it. Lucky for her, she said, it?s an easy cancer to treat: The bad cells are in a ?suitcase,? and the doctor is going to take it out. The idea of their mom?s neck being cut open worried the girls, so Pywell told them that their aunt had a C-section to deliver their cousin and she is now fine. There were a few questions (?Can kids get cancer" Are you going to die"?) but no tears. ?I thought I would start ...