Podcast
‘Mommy Doesn’t Have Hair Right Now’: Receiving a Cancer Diagnosis as a Young Mother
Author(s):
On this episode of the “Cancer Horizons” podcast, CURE® contributor Amanda Ferraro describes what it was like to receive a cancer diagnosis at 28 years old with a 3-year-old child and discusses the importance of mental health for cancer survivors.
How do you explain to your 3-year-old why you’ve lost your hair, why you have to go away to the hospital for a long period of time and most importantly, that you are sick with cancer?
Amanda Ferraro, an acute myeloid leukemia survivor who writes blog posts for the CURE Voices program, explains how she navigated parenthood during cancer in this episode of the “Cancer Horizons” podcast. She also discusses the importance of mental health and shares advice for other patients and survivors.
“We actually put him into play therapy, probably as soon as I got home, which helped a lot with him kind of going through this, ‘what's happening?’” Ferraro said. “I just simply told him I was sick, and you know Mommy doesn't have hair now because of the medicine that I had to get. But we would count hairs when they came in.”
For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.
