15 Things Parents Of Kids With Cancer Want You To Know

“I like being checked on. So many people are afraid to bother us, it forms a bubble. We already have enough of a bubble with being in the hospital with our kids, or stuck at home because they have no immune system. Be active in your support, not reactive.” ? April Skains Blackburn

“Please come visit. Don’t act like my child will give you cancer!” ? Kristin Marie Shay

4. Let them talk about it.

“Let us talk about it. I know it’s uncomfortable for you, but you’ll be OK. Yes, it’s all we talk about, but it is the ONLY thing that matters right now.” ? Allison Thornsberry

“We need help, and it’s godawful hard to accept it. Keep being kind, keep helping, keep visiting, keep letting us know you care. We’re dying inside.” ? Alethea Jo Mshar

5. But also, distract them.

“Just be with us, talk about everyday life things, take us out of the ‘cancer world’ for a few minutes. Show that you remember us as people and a family, not just about the cancer.” ? Meghan Swanson Dangerfield

“If I ask you how you’re doing, don’t say ‘you have enough on your plate to deal with my troubles.’ I WANT to know your troubles. I want to be shoulder for someone. I don’t always want to talk about cancer. I want to talk about how your baby keeps falling into the coffee table because they are trying to walk. Or how your teen is having trouble with math. Yes, our lives revolve around cancer right now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to go out for lunch or coffee and talk about other things. Don’t leave me or stop being my friend just because you don’t understand what I’m going through.” ? Natalie Warne

“Please don’t cry if we aren’t crying. That was just more than I could handle.” ? Naura Kobrin

6. Don’t say, “You’re so strong/brave.”

“We are not strong. I always hear how strong I am. I’m not. I cry often. I want to give up often … but I am a mom, I do what any mom does ? I take care of my child. I wish so much that chemo, radiation, surgery, and MRI were not common topics in our house, but they are. Sometimes we need a friend to let us show we are weak and have a shoulder to cry on.” ? Amanda Renee

“Don’t ask us as parents, how we do it, go to the hospital, sit through surgeries, chemo, MRIs etc. There is no answer, you just do it. This is your child, your heart. You just do it.” ? Alix Lopez