"Chemo for Kids"

We told Kaylee, our 9-year-old daughter, about my breast cancer so she would understand that I would be having surgery. But, now that it is getting close to time for chemo treatments, it was time to tell her a little more.

I sat down on the couch with her and read her a book called "Our Mommy has Cancer" that was given to me by the American Cancer Society. It explains, in kid terms, about chemo and radiation. It also talks about hair loss. Things were going well until we got to this part. Her eyes went big as saucers and she was mortified at the thought of Mommy being bald! So, I tried to make it sound fun and tell her that I had a wig to wear and might get some cool hats too! She sweetly offered to loan me some of her very own "cool" hats including the one that is entirely made of sequins! I thanked her, of course, thinking that I might look better bald than as a disco ball!

She had some questions that we tried to honestly answer. She wanted to know if it was okay if she took the book to school and if she told anyone about it. I assured her it was not a secret and she could do whatever makes her feel best about it.

She came home from school with a card that she made full of rainbows and happy, smiling suns. She wrote "Mommy, I'm deeply sorry for your cancer. I hope you get well soon and good luck!" 

"Breast Cancer on the Back Burner!"

On August 10, my baby turns one! I won't go into how the time flew by, because we all know that it did! My plan was to pile the family into the SUV and head to Tulsa (where everyone in our whole family - with the obvious exception of us - lives)! It is very important to me that we all be together to celebrate this milestone. Sadly, breast cancer had other ideas.

Well, I have outsmarted that stupid cancer! I started calling family members, plopped invitations in the mail immediately, had Mom reschedule the date for our party location and made a quick trip to the party store! We are moving this good time up a couple of weeks and making it happen!

Tonight, I will push breast cancer to the back of my mind and enjoy my baby, my family and all the good energy I will get from being able to see everyone before the big "C" tries to take over my days for a while. I will be able to hold Jayce, take pictures, eat cake and laugh while I'm still feeling great! Hopefully, by the time I plan his second birthday party, we will be more concerned about picking a theme, the right balloons and the perfect cake while cancer will be a thing of the past!

"Cancer: Kind of like Head Lice?"

After dinner the other day, we talked to our 9-year-old daughter about what might be happening to Mommy soon. We decided to feed it to her in child size chunks. I asked her if she had ever heard the word "cancer" and she said said "yes, that is contagious." We explained that is it not and then told her about my breast cancer. She then decided it was a bug. We told her it was just a bad part that had to be taken out, just like when I had my gallbladder out recently (which she remembers). 

Her eyes suddenly lit up and then she said "Oh, is this when your hair falls out?" We weren't going to get into a discussion about anything beyond surgery at this point, so we weren't sure what to say. Luckily, she snapped her fingers, rolled her eyes, and laughingly said "Oh, never mind, that's when you have head lice." Yeah, that must be it!

The next morning she came into my room when she woke up. "Good morning Mommy, how is your breast cancer today?" I responded "It's just fine." Thank goodness it isn't head lice!