Childhood Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors
Chapter 4: Telling Your Child and Others
To name things is to tame them.
— Tim O’Brien Tomcat in Love
YOU HAVE JUST LEARNED your child is gravely ill. There is so much to take in, so much to do, and all you really want to do is wake up and end this nightmare; but you are the only one who knows this news. What will you tell your sick child? And what can you say to your other children, or your parents? Should you tell your friends and neighbors? What can you possibly say?
Table of Contents
All Guides- Introduction
- 1. Diagnosis
- 2. The Brain and Spinal Cord
- 3. Types of Tumors
- 4. Telling Your Child and Others
- 5. Choosing a Treatment
- 6. Coping with Procedures
- 7. Forming a Partnership with the Treatment Team
- 8. Hospitalization
- 9. Venous Catheters
- 10. Surgery
- 11. Chemotherapy
- 12. Common Side Effects of Chemotherapy
- 13. Radiation Therapy
- 14. Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation
- 15. Siblings
- 16. Family and Friends
- 17. Communication and Behavior
- 18. School
- 19. Sources of Support
- 20. Nutrition
- 21. Medical and Financial Record-keeping
- 22. End of Treatment and Beyond
- 23. Recurrence
- 24. Death and Bereavement
- 25. Looking Forward
- Appendix A. Blood Tests and What They Mean
- Appendix C. Books and Websites