Helping Children Cope With Cancer

When cancer is introduced into a family, whether it be a parent or the child themselves, the unfamiliarity of the subject can be very frightening to children. Cancer is difficult for anyone to go through, and at such a young age it is sometimes hard to explain to a child exactly what is going on and why they are sick. As demonstrated in our class, books are one of the easiest and best ways to teach a child something unfamiliar or difficult to understand. I have compiled a list of books that are all written by women who were diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives. Some of the authors won their battle, and some did not. Each of the books are very different from one another, but they all give the story of a mommy going through cancer and what that means and why she may look and feel the way she does. As discussed in the article, trying to shelter your children from negative things may only make things worse. Children are very observant, and when something is going wrong, they will ultimately notice. By embracing the disease and letting the children in on the experience, they will not be as afraid of what is going on. Because each child in their life will probably have someone they know become sick with a serious disease, I believe that having these books available in the classroom or in a home is extremely important. Seeing other children going through the same situation is the best way for a child to cope and become more comfortable with what they might be going though. As a cancer patient myself, I know that by talking to those who had already gone through what I went through made my experiences a lot less scary. Although I did not have books available to me, the stories of real women who went through my experience and were able to share them with me was one of the most helpful events that got me through my disease. The sharing of stories helps all ages cope, and by bringing books of cancer stories to children- they will be able to cope as well.