Emotional pick-me-ups important for child patients: Children’s Cancer Network

August 19, 2024

HANOI – Hoàng Thị Diệu Thuần is the founder of Children’s Cancer Network, an initiative created in 2021 to support children with cancer and their parents.

It started out as a classroom programme for children with cancer at Hà Nội’s National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion in 2016.

Having suffered from blood cancer herself, she became a volunteer at the institute and helped child patients cope with their illness.

Việt Nam News speaks with Thuần about her experience working with these children and what kind of emotional support they need.

When children are diagnosed with cancer and have to be hospitalised, how are they affected?

When children receive the news that they have cancer, depending on their age and personality, their emotional responses vary. But most kids above the age of six can be aware of their predicament, and are understandably saddened by it.

They may not be fully aware of the gravity of the situation, but understand that their parents are taking them to hospital to do all sorts of tests and that they are not feeling well.

They can lose their appetite, cry a lot when they feel pain or even become angry at caregivers.

They especially become worried and sad when they see their parents worried and sad.

Children who go through cancer treatment can have visible symptoms such as loss of hair, rashes and open sores on their limbs. They become acutely aware that their appearance has changed greatly.

This may not affect them much while in hospital, but after they go home to wait for their next round of treatment, they may meet their old school friends and other family members.

They may not be able to run and play like other kids, or might be shunned by other kids who do not really