Your cancer diagnosis causes a profound impact on his family. You not only have to learn new information and make decisions about treatment, if you have children, it is very likely to also have concerns about how much to tell about what you are going through.

Here are 10 tips for communicating with their children:

1. Give information about the cancer that is accurate and appropriate to their age: Do not be afraid to use the word “cancer.” Tell them or show them where the cancer is located in your body. Practice your explanation in advance so that you feel most comfortable. Remember that if you do not talk to their children about cancer, they can invent their own explanations, which may prove to be even more frightening than the facts.

2. Explain the treatment plan and how it will affect their lives: Prepare your children for any physical changes you may experience during treatment, for example, hair loss, fatigue, weight loss. Let them know that your needs will be met. For example, tell them “Dad instead of Mom, take them to soccer practice.”

3. Answer questions as accurately as possible: Take into account their age and previous experience with serious illness in the family. If you do not know the answer to a question, do not panic. Say, “I do not know. Try to find out the answer and let you know.”

4. Reassure your child: Explain that regardless of how they have been behaving or what they have been thinking, they have nothing to do with the cause of cancer. Let them know that they can not “catch” cancer, as with a cold.