A boy and his grandmother have a difficult conversation about family, legacy, and love when he finds out that she has cancer.
Resources for people dealing with a family member with cancer
One in three people in the U.S. face a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. 25 percent of cancer survivors in the U.S. have school-aged children. This means that there a lot of families, and a lot of children, who are dealing with cancer right now with a grandparents, parent, family member, friend, or teacher. Also, siblings of children with cancer report that the support they receive at school is just as important as the support they receive at home.
Livestrong at School is a free set of online lessons for grades K–12 to help you teach students about cancer in a way that is age-appropriate, inspiring and empowering. The printable lessons (which are also in Spanish) include: national standards, clear learning objectives, engaging videos, extension activities, a check for understanding, ways that students can get involved in the fight against cancer
While every child is unique and will cope with an illness in the family differently, the American Cancer Society says there are certain responses you can expect to see:
- Children can’t always tell you, but may show you how they feel.
- A child may act less mature when upset.
- Children blame themselves.
- The child’s level of trust will show up in their behavior.
- Cancer treatment will bring out new and different responses from children.
Other resources that may be helpful include:
- Warning signs for breast cancer
- Are breast self-exams important to do?
- How to do breast self-exams
- The stages of cancer
- Finding and paying for treatment
- Treating cancer with nutrition
- Personal story of coping with breast cancer
- Support for caregivers
- Find local support groups
- Helping kids cope when a family member has cancer
- Help for children with cancer
- More help for children with cancer
- Vital health exams for men