Support for siblings

Hi My youngest daughter is 9 and has just had her op for a malignant melanoma. My eldest is 12 and quite quiet. If you ask her anything the usual response is I don’t know ! I have gone into school and spoken to student services who have spoken to her. She had a teary day and felt she could go there. I’ve also been offered a clic Sargent ‘social worker’ who I believe can help the whole family or help you to gain other assistance. Haven’t got in touch yet as it’s early days but might be worth looking into for you and yours also. I’m also new to this so there will be others who know more .As a mum I was very aware to not leave out my other daughter. It affects the whole family and you’re in it together. Good luck! Hope you manage to access the help you need for you and yours.x

Welcome to the online community and to the parents of children with cancer group and yes you've hit the nail on the head, nobody wants to join us and we would be pleased if you were not here as it means that you have a child with cancer and that really does suck but now that you have found us, I hope that we can be of help and support and you should know that you can also come into the group for a chat, have a rant and rave about life or just, as we all need to do, let off steam everyone will understand where you are coming from and fully understand how you are feeling.

I would like to invite you to join our Carers only forum group and meet others just like yourself.

For any child faced with information that a parent or sibling has cancer can be a traumatic experience and who can ever know what goes on in a child's head when they get told that their sister has been diagnosed and the parent is faced with the dilemma of how much do we tell the other daughter, how much will she understand and how will she react is an unknown factor but take into the equation that the younger daughter has ADHD and ASD who is also is trying to get her head around the fact that you had breast cancer a few years ago is a lot for an eleven year to  absorb.

You asked about places you might get some help and I hope that the following will help.

At your local hospital you might find that there will be a Macmillan Information Service Centre where you and your daughters can pop into and have a chat to the volunteers who have a wealth of knowledge of local support groups that might be of help to you. They will also be able to advise on any financial benefits you might be entitled to. Why not pop in for a chat.

Our friends over at Maggies might have a support centre at your local hospital that the whole family could pop into. Some of the centres run groups for youngsters where they can discuss cancer related items.

The following might also be of interest to you 

cancer research - supporting siblings

joss searchlight

Youngsibs

Rainbow Trust

clicsargent

cclg - helping siblings

If you ever feel the need to chat to a real person we have a wonderful team of friendly people who answer our helpline phone lines are available every day of the week 8 am to 8 pm and there to listen to you and give you any advice you need. The number to contact them on is 0808 808 0000.

The online community is open every day of the week and you can pop in and ask questions, have the rant and rave or let off steam you can do so 24 hours a day, someone will answer you we try not to let any post go unanswered.

By joining the online community we hope that you'll find that you are not alone in this journey.

Please keep in touch.