If anything could be worse than first hearing you have cancer, it might be trying to find a way to tell your children about it. If you’ve recently been diagnosed with cancer, your initial fears and anxieties are not what you want to convey to your children, but that can be difficult. Letting your children know that you have cancer, sharing your feelings, and listening to how they feel is probably the best way to tap into your family’s source of love and support.

Although a parent with cancer receives medical attention, their children need support also. Without an understanding of the disease, children may suffer intense fear that they may try to bear on their own. They may feel they are responsible for a parent’s illness or that it was in some way caused by them. The Kimmie Cares doll was created to comfort them, to bring their fears and feelings to the surface using play therapy, explaining their parent’s illness and subsequent hair loss. Using the Kimmie Cares doll and book, parents can explain cancer to their children as well as the effects of the treatment that follows. Instead of trying to find the exact words, adults and children can read the Kimmie Cares book together and focus on the healing process through improved communication.