When I was diagnosed with MBC, there was first the shock of it and then the uncertainty of how to talk to my two sons about it. I knew from my work as a clinical social worker that it was important to not withhold information or avoid talking about metastatic breast cancer but I felt unsure. My world had been upended and I questioned my judgement on everything. And how could I know what the right amount of information would be? And what about my young niece and nephew? And, in the beginning, there was so much I didn’t know or understand about my cancer and how my treatment would impact my life. In this moment of my greatest distress, I lost my confidence communicating this terrible news to the most important people in my life.
So I did what I always do in a crisis – I got busy and dug into some research on the topic and asked some experienced therapists what they recommended. I knew that it could be damaging to not tell my kids the whole truth about my metastatic status since kids are smart at all ages in picking up what is happening with their parents. I did wonder if there was a best practice approach to talking to kids about MBC.
I found the work done by RETHINK Breast Cancer, a Canadian based non-profit dedicated to young women living with breast cancer, to be outstanding. They have created cartoon videos for kids called Mission: Recovery that help explain what cancer is and The Kids Guide to Breast Cancer. In addition, they have published, with author Morgan Livingstone, Child Life Specialist, the How to Talk to Kids about MBC .
In November 2019, I was able to talk to Morgan about her work and these resources. This became the start of our How to Talk…MBC video series.
To check out the excellent resources created by the RETHINK Breast Cancer team go to: https://rethinkbreastcancer.com/resources-for-young-families/
Life with Metastatic Breast Cancer 