Just an update on my initiative to send out free copies of the children’s book I wrote for my kids and I to process the whole cancer plot twist that hit me and everyone who loves me.

I say this a lot but cancer does not just hit the patient—it hits the family, the friends, the caregiver (or the person who all of a sudden finds themselves a caregiver like what happened to my husband). For my kids, they had a tough experience seeing me who did everything for them not be able to do it anymore.

We had an uneasy truce where I had to table a lot of stuff during my treatment. I could not help myself so I definitely could not help them. I could give them the speech that “I am ok.” but they aren’t dumb and they could see that I was NOT ok.

After I finished all of my treatment, I saw my daughter particularly still struggle as my son just would say everything he felt including the fear that I would die when my daughter did not say anything but instead kept it all inside. My son, though, too was still processing everything. I sat down with them and started writing what would become my children’s book, I’m Strong, You’re Strong, Everyone’s Strong…What We Learned When Mama Got Breast Cancer. I taught myself how to create a children’s book layout originally just for them. It was not easy—it took me days and days to figure out how to lay it out and how to find pictures for it and how to self-publish it—and I am a published author already and know how to write and publish, but this was a whole new ballgame.

Once I published and ordered a few copies, my kids loved reading it and it made me think how it could help other older children also deal with this plot twist of having their mom get cancer.

I have sent away 18 copies of the book, for free, and some have gone as far as Australia, England, New Hampshire, Canada, New York and more. I definitely do not know how much I can afford to print and send but I am working on filing to be a nonprofit so maybe I can get a grant to continue.

Whenever I see someone post about their kids and how they are managing the fact that mom has cancer, I offer the book and even created a page to collect information to those who want a copy here.

Some of the feedback I have gotten already tells me the book was helpful, such as:

  • My child read the book 10 times in a row and said they don’t feel alone anymore
  • The book helped my son
  • The story showed my kids they are not alone​

If you got a copy, comment below about what you thought of it. If you want a copy, click here and fill out the form.

This is what I do in the time between…