Process Essay 3

A detailed Summary of Process Essay 3

"How To Tell Your Children You Have Cancer" Thousands of people every year find out they have cancer. Over half will have to go through some type of chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Both are extremely painful. Their appearance will change dramatically and their physical abilities will become limited. Just talking can and will become a chore. Although many physicians and specialist try to comfort and prepare each patient; it is those patients with children who find the whole experience tormenting. They fear for their children's future and how they will take the news. They're unsure of when and

how to tell their children, especially those with younger children. Children who are of the ages of five and under. It is most difficult to explain to this age group because of their absence of understanding what it is they are being told. They have a limited vocabulary and lack the ability to grasp the seriousness of the situation. They do not understand that their parent maybe facing death. To them their parent is invincible. No one or thing could harm them. So it is up to their parent to explain everything in a way to where they will understand. Helping children five and under to understand their parents experience wi

told over and over again. They have a short attention span and a meager vocabulary level. The parent needs to be creative and talk in a language their children will understand. Children are good at noticing things but poor at understanding what they mean. For example, "Pappy died in a hospital. Now Daddy has to go into a hospital. He is going to die." Or "I was with Mommy when she told me to pick up my toys. Then she was ill. Maybe I made her ill." It is this way children think. Children under five believe the world revolves around them, they believe that when something is wrong, it's their fault. There is a tremendous need to explain in great detail to them the reasons as to why their parent has cancer. To let them know it has nothing to do with them and that they did not cause the disease. They should be told in small doses as the disease progress or digresses. They shouldn't be told that

Mommy or Daddy is going to die unless that is the inevitable outcome. It saves the children from unnecessary grief and stress. The youngest children fear separation, strangers and being left alone. There are some dont's such as don't lie, don't trouble them with frightening medical details, money worries, test results that are not in yet, promises you may not be able to keep, and don't be afraid to say "I don't know." Also a parent does not want to push their children to talk. This may cause them to turn away and keep emotions and feelings hidden. Children are having a difficult time trying to understand the situation and trying to deal with the idea of losing their parent. The less stress a parent puts on their children the more the children are able to cope with the situation. When a parent finds out they have cancer everyone in that famil

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cancer Thousands, Mommy Daddy, children children, parent cancer, tell children, cancer children, able answer, able cope, children especially, children five, children told, step parent,

Approximate Word count = 1188
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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