The questions and answers presented in this section were developed by talking with many cancer care professionals, parents with cancer, and their children. These questions cover a wide range of topics, including: talking with your children; understanding your children's reactions; dealing with special issues.

The goal of this section is to help you think about how to talk with your children about your cancer and to increase your ability to help your children cope with the normal stresses of parental illness.

One of the main goals of our program is to help you think about which coping strategies may work best for you and your family. The answers provided serve as general explanations. There is no one right answer to any of these questions.

Many of the questions give separate answers for children of different ages. This will help you think about what children of different ages need to understand about each issue.