When a Parent Has Cancer电子书

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE Our Story

1 Meeting Your Children’s Fundamental Needs

Turning Problems into Strengths

Establishing Open Communication

Understanding Children’s Fundamental Needs

Telling the Truth

When Advice from Others Seems Intrusive or Annoying

Perfect Parenting Is an Illusion

2 Caring for Your Children Through the Crisis of a New Diagnosis

Breaking the News

Teaching Children That Cancer Is Not Contagious

Preparing Children for Changes in a Life-Enhancing Way

Empowering Children

3 Caring for Your Children Beyond the First Few Weeks

Learning to Recognize Choices That Are “None of the Above”

Helping Children Through Unpleasant Changes

Sorting Out Priorities

Creating an “Energy Bank Account”

When Children’s Needs Are Not Met

Knowing How Much Detail to Tell Children

Providing a Framework for Dealing with the Changes

Children Experience Stress Differently Than Adults

Understanding Children’s Questions

Protecting Children’s Need for Normalcy

When Cancer Seems to Be the Only Focus of Attention

Handling the Crises

Family Meetings

Doing What Feels Right for Your Family

4 Grief, Fear, and Children’s Other Emotions

Dealing with Loss and Grief

Dealing with Fear

Helping Children Work through Negative Emotions

After a Bad Day

Using Play as a Therapeutic Tool

When Laughter Can Be Healing Medicine

Dealing with Regression and Failure

Knowing Whether Children Are Doing OK

5 Helping Your Children Live with Uncertainty and Tame Their Fear of Death

Dealing with Uncertainty and Faith

Dealing with the Possibility of Recurrent Cancer

Helping Children Face Their Fear of Death

Knowing If You Are Dying Now

Understanding Children’s Conception of Death

Breaking the News of a Poor Prognosis

Matching Your Degree of Optimism with the Facts

Preparing Children for Your Death

6 Family Members with Special Needs: Teenagers, Single Parents, the Well Spouse

Caring for Teenagers 101 Understanding Issues Common to Teens and Youngsters

Caring for Children in a Single-Parent Home or When the Parents’ Marriage Is Unstable

Caring for the Well Spouse

7 Taking Care of You

8 Caring for the Children When Cancer Recurs or Becomes a Chronic Disease

Facing Recurrence—the Patient

Facing Recurrence—the Well Spouse

Facing Recurrence—the Children

The Truth Pact

Your Children’s Needs This Time Around

Living with Chronic Cancer

Conclusion

APPENDIX 1 Major Stages of Growth and Development

APPENDIX 2 Glossary for Kids

APPENDIX 3 Resources for Parents and Children

APPENDIX 4 Annotated Bibliography

Acknowledgments

AUTHOR’S NOTE

About the Author

Praise for When a Parent Has Cancer

Important Message to Parents, Friends, and Extended Family

How to Use Becky and the Worry Cup

Copyright

About the Publisher

Cover

Title Page

CONTENTS

The Girl from Texas

The Longest Straw

Making Lemonade from Lemons

The Mouse in the Shower

Lots of Lollipops

The Bike Doctor

“It’s Not Fair!”

Becky Gets a Worry Cup

Mad-Busters

“Wake Up, Sleepy-Head!”

No News Is Good News

The Radiation Rocket Ship

A New Normal

Copyright

About the Publisher