"They Never Want to Tell You" : Children Talk About Cancer / David J. Bearison.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bearison, David J., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cancer in children--Patients--Biography.

Cancer in children.

Cancer--Patients.

Cancer.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (208 pages)

Edition:

Reprint 2014

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

They Never Want to Tell You transcends the negative metaphors and clichés of life-threatening disease, to give voice to the culture of cancer and to the behavior and attitudes of those who function within that culture-as patients, medical professionals, family, and friends. In these extraordinary narratives, children coping with cancer reveal their most personal experiences, and they speak with a candor that breaks through the cultural taboos ostensibly designed to protect us from the disease. The rich, compassionate, and honest words of these children give expression to concerns that adults who are struggling with cancer find nearly impossible to articulate. Free of social conventions and cognitive distortions, each story presents a powerful variation on the theme of survival in the face of the continuing uncertainties of life-threatening disease. Bearison, a developmental psychologist and psychotherapist, is keenly aware of the psychological impact of cancer on children, particularly as survival times for childhood cancers lengthen and complex treatments intensify concern about the emotional-not merely physical-well-being of children. Bearison has culled from scores of interviews the most salient moments that represent these individual children in their shared struggle with disease. In these pages the children express their wildest hopes and worst fears about cancer. They speak of the absolute necessity of full disclosure, the problems of relating to friends and family, the difficult adjustment to hair loss, their feelings of punishment, grief, and spirituality, and many other issues. In the course of these stories the children reveal not only their will to survive and their extraordinary capacity to understand themselves and their condition, but their altruistic desire to share that understanding with other children as well as with adults who have cancer. "They Never Want to Tell You" is rich and rewarding reading for cancer patients, their families, and health-care professionals alike.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Introduction: Talking with children who have cancer

The narratives

You're still the same old Ant to us

Just think about the good days

They only understand what I tell them

It's nothing. It's no big deal

I just want people to be straight with me

The best thing is to talk to somebody

I didn't feel myself

You're the only child in the world that has it

Common narrative themes

Why me?

God and prayer

Fears about having cancer

Losing your hair

Advice for others who have cancer

Friends and family relations

How cancer has changed me

Talking about talking about cancer

Afterword: Working with children who have cancer

Notes

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 21. Dez 2019)

ISBN:

0-674-18815-2

OCLC:

1013951665