We are excited to announce a new series of blog entries that will appear once a month on this blog!

 The coordinators of our Facing Cancer Together (FaCT) program will be writing a monthly entry on this blog to share a specific tip or piece of advice related to parenting through the cancer experience. Because a cancer diagnosis impacts the entire family, all of our FaCT programs are designed to strengthen families as they face the challenges of cancer together. If you or someone you know is parenting a child while living with cancer, please pass on this web address (or our page on Facebook) and be sure to check in at the start of each month for helpful parenting advice.

As Wendy Schlessel Harpham (a doctor, cancer patient, mother, and author) wrote, “The greatest gift you can give to your children is not protection from change, loss, pain, or stress, but the confidence and tools to cope and grow with all that life has to offer them.” We hope to offer you these tools and ideas to help your children not only meet this challenge, but grow through the experience.

Check back tomorrow for the first entry in this series: “Information is Protection.”

A little more about the contributing writers:

 Janice Haines – Janice is a licensed elementary teacher and has taught in the Minneapolis Public School District for many years. Janice was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma nine years ago and has been in remission for five years. When Janice was a teenager her father passed away from the same disease. Janice brings not only a professional background, but life experiences and personal passion to help children who have a parent with cancer.

Missy Lundquist – Missy is a licensed social worker with a Master of Social Work from Fordham University in New York City. Her career has focused on work with families and children, as well as development and coordination of support programs for women with breast cancer and cultural orientation programs for expatriates. Missy is a mother herself, who is glad to be able to create a unique opportunity for helping children learn and cope with their stressful situation.

Suzie McKenzie– Suzie has a Masters in Teaching and focused her Capstone paper on researching beneficial resources for adolescents who have a parent with cancer. Since losing her mom to cancer 7 years ago, Suzie has been dedicated to this program using her personal experience and her research to help children and adolescents face a parent’s cancer diagnosis. Suzie facilitates our FaCT program for teens as well as our Hispanic community initiative.