Ep12: Talking to Kids about Cancer - Part 1

You get cancer. How do you tell your kids? This is not a conversation that we typically learn in parenting courses.

In this episode, Glynn and Jaz open up their playbook. They talk through the things they considered in deciding when and how to have this conversation with their own children. Considerations like…Do they need to know? Is the conversation hurting them? What words to use? How blunt to be? How long to wait? Who should know first? How much detail is enough?

These conversations looked differently for their different kids based on age and developmental stage. Glynn and Jaz don’t pretend to have done it perfectly, but they hope that sharing their story might make this process slightly less daunting for the next set of parents having these hard, but very important, sets of conversations.

Also in this episode, we hear from one of those children - Mr Ten - to see what we can learn from him. We dive into how he found this conversation, where his mind went, and what some of the challenges have been with his Dad going through cancer treatment.

The Cancer Council has some great resources on this topic, specifically, at the link below.

https://www.cancervic.org.au/cancer-information/children-teens-and-young-adults/talking-to-kids-about-cancer/overview.html

Canteen is another great resource for supporting young people affected by cancer and has some helpful information that can assist young people in adjusting to a parental cancer diagnosis.

https://www.canteen.org.au/young-people/parent-carer-cancer

We would love to hear from you if this episode resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to let us know you’re listening. You can email us at hello@chemotionalrollercoaster.com

New episodes of Chemotional Rollercoaster are published weekly, on Wednesdays, Australian Eastern Time.

Lastly, Chemotional Rollercoaster is not a substitute for seeking one’s own professional advice. The strategies and skills discussed in all Chemotional Rollercoaster episodes are either what has worked for Glynn or his guests, specifically, or are things discussed in a general way. Anyone who is dealing with their own health issues, mental or physical, should seek their own professional advice on what may help to support them, uniquely. If anyone is struggling, and needs to talk, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Thanks go out to Rory Chambers, as always, for his music featured in this episode (info@rorychambers.com).

Chemotional Rollercoaster is presented by Glynn Chambers

Production, sound and editing by Rose Paton

Music by Rory Chambers ©2024 info@rorychambers.com

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