At some point in our lives, many of us will face the crisis of an unexpected illness. For parents, the fear, anxiety and confusion resulting from a cancer diagnosis can be particularly devastating.

"When A Parent Has Cancer" is a book for families written from the heart of experience. A mother, physician, and cancer survivor, Dr Wendy Harpham offers clear, direct, and sympathetic advice for parents challenged with the task of raising normal, healthy children while they struggle with a potentially life-threatening disease.

Dr Harpham lays the groundwork of her book with specific plans for helping children through the upheaval of a parent's diagnosis and treatment, remission and recovery, and if necessary, confronting the possibility of death. She emphasises the importance of being honest with children about the gravity of the illness, while assuring them that their basic needs will always be met.

Included is "Becky and the Worry Cup," an illustrated children's book that tells the story of a seven-year-old girl's experiences with her mother's cancer.

Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Important Message to Parents, Friends, and Extended Family	p. xvii
Prologue: Our Story	p. xxi
How to Use Becky and the Worry Cup	p. xxxiii
Meeting Your Children's Fundamental Needs	p. 1
Turning Problems into Strengths	p. 1
Establishing Open Communication	p. 4
Understanding Children's Fundamental Needs	p. 5
Telling the Truth	p. 7
When Advice from Others Seems Intrusive or Annoying	p. 10
Perfect Parenting Is an Illusion	p. 13
Caring for Your Children Through the Crisis of a New Diagnosis	p. 15
Breaking the News	p. 15
Teaching Children That Cancer Is Not Contagious	p. 19
Preparing Children for Changes in a Life-Enhancing Way	p. 21
Empowering Children	p. 25
Caring for Your Children Beyond the First Few Weeks	p. 29
Learning to Recognize Choices That Are "None of the Above"	p. 29
Helping Children Through Unpleasant Changes	p. 31
Sorting Out Priorities	p. 33
Creating an "Energy Bank Account"	p. 35
When Children's Needs Are Not Met	p. 36
Knowing How Much Detail to Tell Children	p. 37
Providing a Framework for Dealing with the Changes	p. 40
Children Experience Stress Differently Than Adults	p. 42
Understanding Children's Questions	p. 47
Protecting Children's Need for Normalcy	p. 48
When Cancer Seems to Be the Only Focus of Attention	p. 49
Handling the Crises	p. 52
Family Meetings	p. 54
Doing What Feels Right for Your Family	p. 56
Grief, Fear, and Children's Other Emotions	p. 59
Dealing with Loss and Grief	p. 59
Dealing with Fear	p. 62
Helping Children Work through Negative Emotions	p. 65
After a Bad Day	p. 70
Using Play as a Therapeutic Tool	p. 71
When Laughter Can Be Healing Medicine	p. 72
Dealing with Regression and Failure	p. 73
Knowing Whether Children Are Doing OK	p. 76
Helping Your Children Live with Uncertainty and Tame Their Fear of Death	p. 79
Dealing with Uncertainty and Faith	p. 79
Dealing with the Possibility of Recurrent Cancer	p. 82
Helping Children Face Their Fear of Death	p. 85
Knowing If You Are Dying Now	p. 87
Understanding Children's Conception of Death	p. 88
Breaking the News of a Poor Prognosis	p. 89
Matching Your Degree of Optimism with the Facts	p. 94
Preparing Children for Your Death	p. 96
Family Members with Special Needs: Teenagers, Single Parents, the Well Spouse	p. 101
Caring for Teenagers	p. 101
Understanding Issues Common to Teens and Youngsters	p. 101
Understanding Issues Common to Teens and Adults	p. 104
Helping Teens Stay Connected to Their Friends	p. 106
Understanding Issues Unique to Teens: Drugs, Alcohol, Sexuality, and Dangerous Behaviors	p. 108
Helping Teens Sort Out Conflicting Loyalties	p. 111
Teens and Finances	p. 113
Caring for Children in a Single-Parent Home or When the Parents' Marriage Is Unstable	p. 114
Unstable Marriages	p. 114
Special Issues of Single-Parent Homes	p. 116
Caring for the Well Spouse	p. 119
Taking Care of You	p. 129
Caring for the Children When Cancer Recurs or Becomes a Chronic Disease	p. 139
Facing Recurrence-the Patient	p. 140
Facing Recurrence-the Well Spouse	p. 143
Facing Recurrence-the Children	p. 146
The Truth Pact	p. 150
Your Children's Needs This Time Around	p. 152
Living with Chronic Cancer	p. 154
Creating a "New Normal"	p. 156
Problems: Cancer-Related or Other-Related?	p. 157
Choosing Your Battles	p. 158
Avoiding Pity	p. 158
Expecting vs. Hoping	p. 161
Rituals and Routines	p. 163
Finding Joy	p. 164
Preventing Burnout	p. 165
Conclusion	p. 171
Major Stages of Growth and Development	p. 175
Glossary for Kids	p. 179
Resources for Parents and Children	p. 189
Annotated Bibliography	p. 195
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9780060740818
ISBN-10: 0060740817
Audience: General
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 240
Published: 21st September 2004
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Country of Publication: US
Dimensions (cm): 22.2 x 15.7 x 1.9
Weight (kg): 0.33