DIPG Blog, News, and Articles

Making Memories After Diagnosis

Dealing with any brain cancer is never easy.  Often times it can be a battle between the clinical nature of treatments and quality of life as families struggle to adapt to the new norm.  As part of this struggle, it is customary to focus on making memories, whether facing a terminal diagnosis or not.  Even beyond creating memories, often these simple actions can provide an outlet both for children and parents that can take them “beyond the cancer” and even provide therapeutic or emotional stabil…

Communication: When a DIPG Child Can No Longer Speak

Content used with permission from the American Childhood Cancer Organization. Hoffman, Ruth, editor. Understanding The Journey: A Parent’s Guide to DIPG. American Childhood Cancer Organization, 2012. Print.Contributing Authors: David Brownstone, MSW, RSW, Caelyn Kaise, MHSc, SLP(C), Reg.CASLPO, Ceilidh Eaton Russell, CCLS, MSc (candidate) Supporting a child or teenager who has a brain tumor is an incredibly important and difficult job. And trying to help them understand and live with their chan…

Grieving Daily and How to Cope

One parent’s personal journey to deal with the loss of your child from cancer. Losing a child is nothing you can prepare for.  Often you never want to admit it even after it happens.  I know, I’ve been there.  After losing our daughter to DIPG, our response was to form a community and over the years we’ve met many other families that have walked the same path as we do daily.  And while I don’t ever profess to have the solution to grieving, we have found ways to cope that many other families hav…