I sit squarely in the "talk to them" camp, and by that I mean ask some open ended questions and then sit back and let them talk. That ability to be with them and let them speak their minds is critical to their feelings of being heard. For kids 2-10+, I'd also kindly suggest my book, Nowhere Hair, which is a kid friendly tool for opening up a conversation about hair loss (which is hard on the kids, because it makes cancer very very visible.) www.NowhereHair.com.

I have twins 22, a 25 and a 42. The 3 youngest do not talk much about my cancer and nothing is said about what might or could happen. They lost their Dad just 5 years ago when the twins were 17....it was very hard on all of us. I don't ask or talk because I know they can't handle losing their mother too. But I have been truthful with all of them and tell them to ask questions if they need to. Good luck...

My daughter was 2 1/2 when I got my dx. All she knew is that she got to see her Nana a lot. When I lost my hair I would let het color my head with washable markers, then I would put silly make up on her and we would take funny pictures, She just turned 6 on April 1st. She knows that Mama was sick and still gets tired easy, but I don't think she worries about it.

@A MyBCTeam Member I was thinking about you today, was wondering how you are and if there was some info I could help you with. Now I see I can help! My son was also 7 when I was diagnosed (and my daughter was 11). How they would deal with everything was a huge worry for me. I decided early on I would be honest with them and not sugar coat things. Before I had my lumpectomy they had tons of questions and my son was really confused by a lot of it. I thought it would help him understand better, so I let him feel the lump, it was big and easy to feel. It did help and it also prompted more questions, like what will happen. I told my kids i would anything necessary to get rid of the cancer. That convo prepared them for me having the mastectomy. there were lots of tears and laughter but we got through it and you will too.

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A MyBCTea...

This is Young: Today is Nov 11th 2014,and I am doing well. Last mammogram was June 1014 and all was well. Still taking arimidex without any problems that I know of. Will be 3yrs out Feb 14th 2015!!!!!