Hi, my niece was diagnosed a couple of weeks ago and her chemo has already resulted in significant hair loss. She's only four and isn't interested in a wig. My brother and his family live abroad and it's around -10 in winter.
I'm looking for advice on suitable headwear for small kids, either hats or pre-tied/easy tie headscarves. She will need lightweight for indoors and warmer for outdoors. Any suggestions please? A friend (who experienced hair loss due to chemo last year) mentioned that scalps can become sensitive and that rubbing in coconut oil can help. Does anyone have any positive experience with this or any other practical scalp related advice?
My nephew is 7 and I'm also wondering about books for either of them to help understand and process feelings - for her and for her brother. English language is fine as English is spoken in their home. My kids are the same age, so any tips on books suitable for them would be appreciated too (if different to theirs).
I'm a counsellor so am good at talking openly about feelings and fears, and am not afraid of any traditionally taboo topics (for example we talk openly about death generally and the kids know their cousin might not get better, but we're all hoping for the best - we followed my brother's lead on this approach), but any specific advice on supporting the kids or my brother and sister-in-law would be very much appreciated. They live far away so I can't support practically in that way, so I'm wondering what kind of emotional or distance support might help most? I really want them to know they're not alone. We send drawings from the kids, and we Skype regularly and natter away as a family for short calls. Is there more we can do?
I feel I've asked a lot of questions, so I thank anyone who reads this for getting to the end, and I'm grateful for any practical advice offered. :-)
Hi
We had a number of books recommended to us when my wife was diagnosed, I was quite anxious not to create a false premise since my wife's cancer was incurable and some books do talk of cure and given that my son is autistic I did not want to offer a promise we could not keep.
One book that we found quite useful was "the secret C" by Julie Stokes
One that was perhaps a bit young for him was Because Someone I Love Has Cancer: Kids' Activity Book by Terri Ades.
For us fortunately the second round of chemo rendered my wife's Leiomyosarcoma stable and we have been living with cancer now for six years - getting our head around the idea of living with cancer though was not totally straightforward.
As for asking lots of questions - can I thank you, helping each other is why we are here so do post away - the worst that can happen is we do not know but then perhaps we can learn, ever after six years I am still learning on here and some of that learning might just help us in the future.
<<hugs>>
Steve
