Still waiting....and waiting for the phone call to schedule my dad's PET/CT. He had a follow up appointment with the surgeon last Wednesday. He drove himself, which worked out well since I spent the morning at the doctor's with Emma who had a double ear infection. While there, he spoke to the oncology nurse and she said they would let him know when they heard from Buffalo about the scan. We still haven't heard.
On the home front, I decided it was time for me to address the big "C" word with Emma. I went to Barnes and Noble and bought the only book they had for talking to kids when a family member has cancer. I took her up my room to get away from household distractions, and I read it to her (skipping some parts and summarizing others). She listened and nodded, and when I asked her if she had any questions she said "can I go downstairs now?" I didn't know what to make of it, I don't know if it all went over her head, or if she's exactly like her dad when it comes to unpleasant discussions (his method is avoid them at all costs). I know she's only five and I can't expect her to react like an adult, so I've let her be. I only asked her one time since if she wanted to talk about Grandpa, and she said no.
Even though the wait is frustrating, especially for my dad, I'm still enjoying this "whole lot of nothing" that is happening right now.
I think it takes kids longer to process this kind of stuff than we expect. When my MIL was dying, we discussed it with H and she listened and promptly started singing and dancing in the ICU. Days later she started asking simple questions or making very accurate statements about the situation. I know that she must have heard what we were telling her but it took days for it to actually process. I think C is hard for kids to understand, I mean, it's hard for us to understand and accept, you are a great and strong Mommy for attempting to start the conversation. Maybe you should write some new kids books to help others.
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