When a child is diagnosed as having cancer, he or she may experience a change in personality. The child's spirit, temperament and behavior pattern may change substantially. The initial treatment may require a long period of hospitalization and even if the child is seen as an outpatient there are frequent visits that may include uncomfortable injections. It may take a while before the family pattern gets back to normal. Parents have to be patient. It may take several months before their child's behavior returns to what it was before the illness.
• How about school?
For a child, school is the normal working environment. Just as an adult wishes to return to work and continue his or her normal activities, so too the child wishes to get back to the normal routine. Multidisciplinary programs will offer the family support to work with the school system so that the child with cancer can re-enter his or her normal environment. School administrators, teachers and others are becoming more familiar with the fact that children in their classrooms may be undergoing cancer therapy. For the most part, school personnel are understanding. They can develop flexible schedules that permit the child to take advantage of the maximum number of educational opportunities while continuing with treatment programs. In most Canadian school jurisdictions, home tutoring will be made available for those periods that school attendance is not possible.
