Parenting With Cancer? Then Read This.

I’ve known Sarah Mendoza via her blog and our Twitter chats for a number of years. She was a guest author on the blog three years ago, when she wrote about her experience with Paget’s disease, a rare type of cancer involving the skin of the nipple and, usually, the darker circle of skin around it, known as the areola.

A mother of two, originally from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, and now living in London, Sarah is a passionate advocate on the topic of parenting with cancer. In March 2013 after a stage 3 recurrence, Sarah started painting pictures of celebrities, getting them to sign the paintings, and auctioning them (you can see the paintings on her blog Paint C Out).  With the proceeds she now wants to create a family drop in for children with parents facing a cancer diagnosis in West London. To this end, Sarah has set up ‘Kidz United Against Cancer’ with the aim of providing support for children and teenagers with a family member affected by cancer, to help them understand what their loved one is going through and to be there when they want to talk.

In this video, specially created for Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer readers,  Sarah tells us more about what led her to create Kidz United Against Cancer, and how you can help.

At this early stage of the project,  you can help Sarah enormously by filling out this questionnaire, designed to see how much demand there is for a service like this and what services would be required.   I encourage those of you who are parents and healthcare professionals to visit the Kidz United Against Cancer website and learn more about this worthwhile community project. I know how passionate Sarah is about helping children and how much your support will be appreciated.

http://www.kidzunitedagainstcancer.org

https://twitter.com/Paint_C_Out