Unfortunately, it all too often happens that a parent who has young children is diagnosed with cancer. In the wave of shock, confusion and fear that follows, what that parent's child comes to think and feel in this terrible situation may be minimized or disregarded by elders, whether intentionally or not.
But there are programs out there that do indeed address the psychology and emotional stress of children in this awful predicament (googling the appropriate terms brings up a few). The link below is to a video, rather moving at times, which provides an example of one of these programs in action, addressing the needs and feelings of kids in this situation.
Real life kids are shown talking about
how their lives have been changed, how they are coping with the way things are now, and how they are dealing with what life has unfortunately presented them.
But what I found most striking about
the kids in this video was just how intelligent and resilient they really are. Sometimes we may think of kids, especially the younger ones, as being so vulnerable, helpless, and easily hurt by their parents' fate. Not these kids. They were handling it as well as anybody. (But isn't that true of children in general? Sometimes we completely underestimate just how strong they can be in the face of adversity).
So watch the video if you have a moment, and admire both the strength of these kids, and appreciate the efforts of some agencies to assist them in their time of need.
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlepeNCyL8o