So, with much coaching by the social worker at St Vincents, armed with handouts and a book written by a little girl whose mother had breast cancer, it took us 2 weeks before telling the kids on Wednesday night 17th June when they finished school.
Jana held her mouth open in shock, Alexander kind of went white and Andres came by my side and held my hand. They took it pretty well. Jana's question were whether I was going to die and if my hair would fall out, would I be sick.....mostly the questions that other kids had asked in the handouts, which was very handy so we had answers for them. The social workers have also offered to work with the kids if they need it and I've told the school and their teachers and hopefully armed them with what they need to say if the conversation comes up.
Andres told me that he loves my hair, "but it will grow back Mum". Jana doesnt want to see me bald and asked if I was scared before my first chemotherapy. They are more resiliant than we think.
The hardest part was telling them that we will have to hold off on our trip to Disneyworld.....we were going to surprise them in July with their tickets, but it will have to wait now.
Andres also told me that I am the best Mummy in the world and I will still be beautiful without hair.
Jana left me a little present and inside was a letter with the heading "no cancer aloud", she told me that she will pray for me to get better and cant wait until I am well again. Very sweet.
All my decisions will be based around the kids and considering them, including my determination to get better.
I am surprised how much they understand, given how young they are. Just goes to show, can't underestimate how much they process. xx
ReplyDeleteI know Lis, they are a speaking a bit too freely about cancer so that us Adults cringe when they talk about it casually. They are teaching us how to deal with it. 😌
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