Telling children about a diagnosis

Living with and after blood cancer
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Hi Joshua
We have always enjoyed a good and open relationship with him including on health matters so we told him immediately after I got my diagnosis- we sat down with him and gave him all the information we had at the time. He did have questions but I wasn’t able to answer all of them and I had to admit that. I did promise that if I got any more information I’d share that with him including answers to his questions but also there was the possibility that not all news would be good - he knew this too. I know he got great support from friends and family and also our local Maggies Centre. I would say that’s important - emotionally I know it was so hard for him so opportunities to offload in an environment away from home was invaluable for him and probably that would be the case for others too.
We still do occasionally talk about it now as a family but we are 5 years down the line so it’s more a reflection on where we were vs where we are now and for that we are so very grateful every day.

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Hi Joshua,
I would if you think it would be helpful.
Christine

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Hello @Corfu80,

How did you tell your children about your diagnosis?

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My children were just 21& 18 at diagnosis, so old enough to realise that Mum was proper poorly & had been kept in overnight. So, when we returned from hospital we sat them down in the lounge & told them truthfully what we knew, so far!

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I thought I’d share some resources on here that we sometimes signpost people to on the support line, when people ask for guidance around talking to their children about cancer and the sorts of things to expect. Has anyone used any of the below resources and found them helpful? Does anyone know of any other resources which some people might find helpful in talking to children about cancer?

Myeloma - Kelsey and the Yellow Kite

Lymphoma - Talking to children about lymphoma

Fruitfly Collective - https://parents.fruitflycollective.com/ & https://fruitflycollective.com/cancer-cloud-kits/

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/information-and-support/coping/talking-about-cancer/talking-to-children/advice-on-talking-to-children-about-cancer.html

Lucy and the Good Soldiers - a small person’s guide to transplant

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Hello all, we have many new members of this community since this topic was created.
We know that for many people, talking to their children about their blood cancer diagnosis will understandably be a hugely difficult conversation to have, so we hope it might be helpful to revisit this topic and see if anyone had any further suggestions or tips.

What was it like for you to explain to your child/children that you have blood cancer? Was there anything you found particularly helpful and supportive at the time?

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