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janicesuem
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 Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 10:22 pm Post subject: telling students |
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I am a third grade teacher facing breast cancer surgery. I am not sure what to tell my students or their parents about why I am out of school. Any advice? If all goes well I shouldn't miss more than a week but you never know. I would like to tell them that I am having surgery before I go in but I am not sure how. Any suggestions  |
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Julie613
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:07 pm Post subject: telling students |
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I choose not to go into detail with most people. Some people hear "cancer" and immediately think your dying. I just used the word "proceedure". While I don't think you should lie to children, I also am not in favor of disclosing every detail about a subject they are not muture enough to handle.
I hope this helps you. Good luck with you surgery. Think positive and take care. My prayers are with you. |
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FiddleDeDe
Regular
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Posts: 41
Location: Los Angeles
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| Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:40 am Post subject: Re: telling students |
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Janice,
Are you still around? How did it go with your students?
I teach fourth grade. Since I am undergoing chemo and have missed quite a bit of time and my hair will fall out, I told my students. We were studying a unit on medicine in Language Arts at the time. I read them excerpts from a children's book on cancer so they would understand what it was.
I explained the doctors found some cancer cells in my body and that they were going to give me medicine or chemotherapy to make me better. I explained that I might miss some time from work in order to see the doctor but that was because I was working very hard at getting better.
One student did ask if I was going to die. I answered honestly that I didn't believe so but that we all do die at some point in our lives, and no one can no for sure what will happen tomorrow. They seemed to accept this and I didn't have to lie to them. I lost a parent at a young age and I wish people had been more honest with me.
_________________
Age 37
dx 1/31/05
IDC 8cm
nodes+, #?
Grade 3
ER/PR-/Her-2-
miscarriage 13 wks
chemo 2/22/05 TAC, every 3 wks
masectomy planned after chemo |
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Minnlady13
Senior User
Joined: 10 Oct 2004
Posts: 160
Location: Minneapolis, MN suburb
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| Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:42 pm Post subject: Re: telling students |
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Hi Janice. I think both Julie and Fiddle have some good tips. IMHO, kids are a lot smarter and intuitive than we give them credit for being. So, I would certainly not lie to them about what is happening to you. Why not ask the school nurse what she thinks would be an appropriate way to explain your situation to the children. She might have some good ideas. I think the book Fiddle talks about would be helpful, too. What a tremendous learning opportunity this could be for your classroom. Best wishes, Lauri
_________________
Diagnosed 4/11/1996
Lumpectomy, 6 mm tumor
Neg. nodes
ER/PR+
33 rads
Tamoxifen, 5 yrs.
NED |
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hhmv73a
Experienced user
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 95
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| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 5:37 am Post subject: re: |
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Dear Janicesuem,
Whether you tell your students (and their parents) is completely your own choice. You are not obligated to tell any people if you don?t want to.
Good Luck,
Dr. Jay Lu |
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