If your mom has breast cancer, you probably have a lot of questions about what’s going to happen to her and to your family. You may be worried, sad and even angry about your mom’s sickness. One way to deal with your worries is to find out exactly what’s going on with mom and how her sickness may affect you.

"One way to deal with your worries is to find out exactly what’s going on with mom and how her sickness may affect you."

Here’s some important information about breast cancer and how it may affect your mom and your family:

• Your mom’s cancer is not contagious. That means she didn’t get it from anybody else and nobody can get it from her.
• No one knows exactly why your mom got cancer. But one thing you should know for sure is that nothing you did or said could have caused it.
• Having breast cancer doesn’t mean that your mom is about to die. There are many ways to treat the disease and to make your mom feel better. Many women live for a long time after being treated for breast cancer.
• There are different ways to treat breast cancer. Your mom will probably have to go to the hospital for some of her treatments. If you want to know more about how mom’s cancer is being treated, don’t be afraid to ask. You can also ask to go with mom to the hospital and talk to the people who are taking care of her.
• Breast cancer treatments can make mom feel tired and sick. She may not be able to do all the things she usually does. That doesn’t mean the treatments aren’t working. It also doesn’t mean that mom can’t take care of you any more. It does mean that mom needs to rest a lot, and that she may need more help from you than she used to, while she’s getting better.
• Breast cancer treatments can make mom look different. She may lose her hair or look very skinny or pale. This doesn’t mean the treatments aren’t working or that the cancer is getting worse. When the treatments are over, mom’s hair will grow back, and she’ll look healthy again.
• Mom may feel sad about her sickness and she may even cry sometimes. This doesn’t mean mom’s cancer is getting worse or that she’s about to die. You can help her just by being with her and talking about why she’s sad.

Here are some other web sites you can visit for kids who have parents with cancer.
www.kidscope.org
www.kidskonnected.org