My Parent Has Cancer and It Really Sucks booK reVieW FEA TUR

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Canadian OnCOlOgy nursing JOurnal • VOlume 25, issue 2, spring 2015
reVue Canadienne de sOins infirmiers en OnCOlOgie
FEATURES/RUbRiqUES
booK reVieW
My Parent Has Cancer and It Really Sucks
Authors: May Silver and Marc Silver
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire, Naperville,
Illinois
Year: 2013
Reviewed by Janice Chobanuk
The book entitled My Parent Has
Cancer and It Really Sucks is an
excellent resource for teenagers who
are coping with a parent diagnosed with
cancer. The authors provide a plethora of
stories written by teenagers and strate-
gies to assist them to cope with the reali-
ties of having a parent living with cancer.
The book provides an assortment of
emotionally charged quotes from teen-
agers grappling with the changes in
their life once a parent is diagnosed.
The book is composed of 14 chapters
and 261 pages (including appendices).
The major topics covered in this book
are cancer 101, communicating with the
family, how life changes during cancer,
parentication, dealing with stress, risk-
ing behaviours, benets of friends and
other supports, dealing with school, fac-
ing a dire diagnosis, loss, and the new
normal life post cancer. The book pro-
vides suggested responses to awkward
situations that a teenager may encoun-
ter. For example, a 16-year-old talks
about kids asking her about her mom
being bald. Following the quote, there is
a suggestion on how to act and respond
to these types of questions and sensitive
situations.
The authors use clear language with
a variety of fonts to make the book fun
to read. Some of the short stories from
teenagers and their cancer experiences
are funny, and others are sad. For exam-
ple, one adolescent talked about being
in the hospital with his father. When his
dad went to sit up, half his eyebrow ew
o. He talked about having to laugh at
these types of situations in order to pre-
vent you from crying. In another sec-
tion, a young girl talks about preparing
for a birthday party for her mother diag-
nosed eight months ago. She was with
her friends making red paper links for
the birthday guests to sign when her
mother went into multisystem failure.
The party was cancelled and Rachel was
asked to stand by her mother and talk to
her during her last moments. She talks
about how dicult it is to prepare for
the nal words or conversation before a
parent dies.
Each chapter oers words of wis-
dom for teenagers, tips to keep in
mind, and survival strategies that align
with the array of funny, and often-
sad quotes from adolescents dealing
with the numerous stresses associated
with the cancer journey. In the chapter
called Dealing with Stress, a teenager
talks about how hard he cried when he
heard the words come from his moth-
er’s mouth that she had breast cancer.
He talked about feeling helpless and
wanting to quit college. Fortunately, he
found soccer to be his saving grace. He
felt he could leave the baggage outside
of the soccer eld and enjoy the game.
Now, as a professional soccer player, he
helps other kids going through similar
cancer-related experiences.
The authors articulate how the can-
cer experience is dierent for each teen-
ager, the added responsibilities, and
feelings of having the childhood expe-
rience taken away, numerous positive
coping strategies, inspiring pieces, and
tactics for dealing with life after can-
cer. I would recommend this book to
teenagers, parents, and sta working
in oncology centres. The book lacks a
clinical perspective; however, it truly
captures the experiences unique to a
teenager dealing with a parent diag-
nosed with cancer. In fact, a teenager
recommended this book to me as valu-
able resource for other teenagers.
About tHe reVieWer
Janice Chobanuk, BScN, MN, CHPCN(C), CON(C)
Director Ambulatory Care and Systemic Therapy, Community Oncology
Alberta Health Services, CancerControl Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta