Debbra emphasized the importance of being honest with children while, at the same time, finding a way to talk about the issues without frightening them.
Transcript
The day before I went in for surgery, I sat down and said that I had some bad cells. I used bad cells instead of cancer for a couple of different reasons. I think it’s really important for kids to… at various different ages to hear the different kinds of information. Bad cells they can relate to something’s wrong and that it’s got to be taken out, especially at age five. That was easy for him. Using the cancer word or the ‘C’ word I think is just terrifying because they see different things and they hear different things about people dying of cancer. Until you know where your stage is at and what kind of diagnosis you’re actually going to have, I think that’s almost like overwhelming and it creates a little bit more fear in their little minds than it’s worth type of thing.
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- Alternative and complementary therapies – DebbraCounselling for Debbra is a safe place to speak about some of her worries. She also hopes it will be a 'security blanket' for her son.
- Chemotherapy -DebbraDebbra found another oncologist with the help of a social worker; her experience with chemotherapy improved after that.
- Reconstruction surgery – DebbraThe surgeon would come in, inject Debbra and leave; it was impossible to speak to him.
- Reconstruction surgery – DebbraDebbra describes the variety of prosthetic products.
- Finding and sharing information – DebbraDebbra described some good national resources.
- Relating to health care professionals – DebbraDebbra would show staff the picture of her son to humanize the relationship.
- Relating to health care professionals – DebbraDebbra feels it is possible to disagree with health professionals and communicate that in a polite manner.
- Perspectives on treatment pathways – DebbraDebbra describes moments where she had to fight for care based on her own decisions.
- Testing and diagnosis – DebbraDebbra felt overwhelmed when she was told indirectly that it could be breast cancer.
- First symptoms – DebbraMucinous cancer, such as the kind Debbra was diagnosed with, is rare and difficult to diagnose due to a lack of lump formation.