When Your Child Has Cancer

Find  information to help parents and loved ones of a child with cancer know about and cope with some of the problems that come up just after the child is diagnosed. 

When a young person is diagnosed and treated for cancer, both the patient and the family enter the strange, complex, and sometimes frightening world of modern medicine. Here we provide tips to help patients and families begin to understand and cope with the health care system.

After the first few weeks of treatment, some families find that they have new routines and new questions about living with cancer.   This section is designed to answer common questions about going to school during treatment, psychosocial support, the health care system and communicating with the cancer care team .

The end of a child's cancer treatment can bring mixed emotions.  You may feel excited, happy, hopeful, and scared or worried all at once.   You may find that it is hard to be done with treatment in ways you did not expect.  We will review some of the challenges families face at the end of treatment and some suggestions for managing the transition.

With the advances in treatment in recent decades, many childhood cancers are now cured. But the intense therapies often needed to treat these cancers can also cause health problems that may not show up until months or years after treatment. Learn about these possible late health effects and what you and your child's doctors can do to look out for them.

A diagnosis of childhood cancer affects the entire family. These inspirational videos feature childhood cancer survivors and their families candidly discussing the good, the bad, the terrifying, and the joyful parts of childhood cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.