21 Jul, 2026
When a child in your life is diagnosed with cancer, most of the advice about what to say is aimed at the parents: call the mom, text the dad, and drop off a meal. But what about the child? What do you say when you're standing in front of them — at a family gathering, in a hospital room, at church, or at the park — and every word you rehearsed in the car feels wrong? Most people default to one of two things: they over-explain their feelings ("I've been so worried about you, I haven't been able to sleep"), or they go completely silent and wait for the moment to pass. Neither helps, and kids notice regardless. No one expects you to have the perfect words, and the perfect words won’t fix things anyway. You just have to show up with the right instincts and know a few things to definitely avoid.
07 Jul, 2026
When a child is diagnosed with cancer, the people around them — family, classmates, neighbors, strangers in a waiting room — often want to know what's happening. Some ask because they care, while some ask out of curiosity.
23 Jun, 2026
If your child has a scan coming up and the whole house feels tense, you're not imagining it. That particular dread that builds in the days before an MRI or CT has a name: scanxiety. It's so common among childhood cancer families that researchers and clinicians use the term routinely. While naming it doesn't make it disappear, it does mean you're not alone in feeling it—and you’re certainly not stuck with those feelings. These strategies for kids with cancer (and their parents) are a good step in managing scan anxiety.
