Honey, Mommy has cancer

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/01/28/hm.cancer.kids/index.html[url][/url][url][/url]

Cindy Hurst a 42 years old woman has a breast cancer. She is from phoenix, Georgia. She is a single mother of 4 years old daughter. She is going to lose her hair during the chemotherapy. So she let her daughter cut it for her.
She was afraid of her daughter Ellie’s reaction to see her mother on the news because she doesn’t know about her situation. But the American Cancer Society group says that they forced the parents to tell their children about having cancer. They do not recommend keeping their illness from their children. On the other hand the group offers age by age advice on a web site to help the parent how to act and how to tell their children. Cindy has a problem in how to tell her daughter about it, she tried many ways but every time her daughter changes the subject. However she let her own daughter cut her hair to let her daughter ask questions, and she find out that is helpful. But Ellie didn’t open up until she bought a doll that is aimed at helping children understand cancer.
This is sad, we hear about people almost everyday diagnosed with cancer. However having a family support is a big help, therefore, family should be the first ones to know about such situations.

I totally agree with you! Family should be the first ones to know! Cancer patients need support and a back up more than anything else. It was proven that if the patient did not find support will not overcome the sickness or respond to the chemo therapy as well as having family around him or her supporting them. However in this case, I think it is hard to explain to a four year old such a situation, usually they do not take it very well, and that might affect the parent who is a cancer patient. Therefore, I think that a relative should tell little children rather than the parent, this way the parent will not get affected by his or her child’s reaction.

I agree with you that the family should be the first to know. We try to save our loved ones from any sadness that we can but somethings are better to hear from a family member than someone else. Talking from experience, I lost my mother to cancer when I was eight years old. I will never forget the night that my dad came home from the hospital to tell us she had passed away. We knew something was up because he didn't come alone. He had many relatives with him that didn't normally come to our house. Even at the age of eight, it would have been nice to know what she had and that she probaly would not be getting any better. It would have prepared me and my sisters a little
more for the news. It is a great thing that she is trying to keep her daughter involved. That is something she will probably never forget even at the age of four.

your right this is really sad and families should have the right to know and it must be really hard on her to tell her kid, I cant imagine if I had cancer and tell my family about it but at least they know and they can support her with it. I think that its a really good idea for the mom to have the kid cut her hair because it gives them some interaction and the kid can ask why shes cutting her moms hair and her mom can actually have more control over what time shes gonna be open about it.

I cant imagine how I would feel having cancer and having young children to leave behind if I didnt make it. I agree with you, that cancer patients should tell thier families, just to prepare them for the worse if that may happen. And, yes, there are people diagnosed with it every day, some of them with no hope. Families should know because the patient will need all the support they can get.