On Monday, Jendro, a loyal commenter and fellow CML mom asked a really interesting question about a dilemma she is currently facing:
My problem is this...I have CML and don't appear sick (nor feel sick for that matter). My children are so young that I don't think they would understand and it might scare them to hear that I have cancer. So the big question is, Should you tell your children that you have CML (or similar, chronic-type cancer)? And if so, when?
Wow. That is not an easy question to answer. And it's one I will be facing sooner rather than later. Here are my thoughts: I am a big believer in telling anyone who wants to know pretty much everything about me (hence, this blog), but when it comes to kids, I just don't know. For those of us with chronic diseases, we could very easily omit the C word from any discussions with our children--at least until they're old enough to understand fully.
Could that spot be cancer? Test yourself with this quiz.I was the kind of kid who stressed about things that could never even happen. After watching Pippi Longstocking, for example, I honestly worried that my dad might become a shipping boat captain and I'd have to live alone with only a monkey. Seriously. After I learned that my grandfather died in a plane crash, I would lie awake pretty much every night for about a year, envisioning my parents or my sisters or myself doing the same. If Alex is anything like me, I don't think he could handle the potential worry that might come with learning about my cancer, however benign that cancer may be.
But, hello!, a week doesn't go by where I'm not speaking or writing or blogging about my experience. It's not just my disease, it's my life. Surely I can't keep that from him. And the lesson of taking a bad thing in life and turning into so much good is one that I definitely want to pass on to him. Not an easy call to say the least. What do you guys think? What would you do? Let's discuss.
Related: 15 ways how not to get cancer!
MORE FROM LIFE WITH CANCER:
