For families, a cancer diagnosis is scary. When that diagnosis is for a child, it can be even scarier. The kids who go through cancer treatment are among the strongest in the world but they need the right kind of support to succeed. Even as we set our sights on a cure, first and foremost, there are other worthwhile goals to strive for.
While successful treatment and remission are the number one goal, along with finding a cure, children benefit when we widen the scope of our care to include other needs. So many of the adults who look back on their childhood fight with cancer find a profound impact on their lives not only from battling the disease but from the experiences and treatment that shaped that chapter in their lives.
Because of this, we approach cancer treatment as more than just medicines and surgeries. It’s about reaching other valuable goals, too.
5 Goals to Reach For Beyond the Cure
Children don’t always know how to express their feelings. Cancer treatment can inspire feelings of fear, uncertainty, and stress. They may feel angry, guilty, or withdrawn. For parents and their support system, creating an environment that values a child’s emotions and their expression is invaluable. It allows children to maintain and improve their mental health as they face the physical challenges of cancer treatment.
Not only can we provide a place to wrestle with negative emotions, but we can encourage positive emotions, too. Offer outlets for creativity and personal expression. Give love and affection and smiles. Your support in difficult times will make a lasting impact on a child long after treatment ends.
This might mean connecting your child with a psychologist that can help them process their emotions in a judgment-free, professional context. A therapist can help them develop healthy coping tools.
Social Support
Cancer treatment can be an isolating experience, particularly for children. They may not be able to attend classes with their peers. Treatment might take them far away from friends and family. Studies show again and again just how critical a support network — a team — really is for cancer patients.
Social support can take many forms: writing letters, making phone calls, playing games. It can be checking in on the child and their family. No matter what form of support you take, what matters is that you are present and engaged in their lives. For our part, Cancer Kickers provides a sense of community, a team, that comes together to encourage and support kids with cancer.
Consistent Joy
Never underestimate the power of joy. Joy can come in packages big and small: It can be a video game, a favorite book, or a flower bouquet. A thoughtful, handmade card. A few minutes spent playing a game together. Playing a favorite song. Singing together, taking a walk. Time with a beloved pet or best friend. A trip to get ice cream.
Carve out these moments of joy as often as you can, no matter how big or small. You may not be able to make your child’s wildest dreams come true, but you can give them joy in times that are hard.
It’s hard to maintain a sense of normalcy when wrestling with something as big and life-changing as cancer diagnosis and treatment. It changes the life of your child and their family. However, offering as much a sense of normalcy as possible is good. It gives your child something grounding to hold on to.
These can be daily experiences, like family vacations, holiday traditions, and school. It can be a wig or fashionable hat if chemotherapy causes hair loss. While changes may have to be made for new circumstances and limitations, we can still instill a sense of the reliable, normal experiences of life. Normalcy isn’t about pretending that the cancer isn’t something going on. It’s not about denial.
Instead, it’s about holding on to constants, about mental and emotional wellbeing, and the hope and expectation of a bright future.
Lastly, we should strive to give our children a sense of safety and security as they go through cancer treatment. This means offering comforting words, but it also means being honest. Talk to your child on their level about what they are experiencing. Talk about procedures and offer reassurances. Express trust in their nurses and doctors.
Lend your child the confidence to believe in their ability to overcome and in their doctors’ ability to treat them. While you cannot control outcomes, you can positively impact how children feel and experience them.
Together, we can inspire and encourage kids to overcome the biggest challenges in life.