Knowing just a smidge about child evelopment I have to say the age of the child needs to be considered too. A 14 year old, a reasonably mature one anyway, has the capacity to understand that soemthing can be difficult, even scary, to get through but necessary for survival. They can understand the abstraction of courage when they see the reality of radation. I think giving your grandson a chance to see his grandfather's courage was a wonderful thing to do, Amy.

This is not necessarilly so for younger pre-adolescent children who are more likely to simply be oevrwhelmed by the frighteningness of things like the mask and the machinery.

I admire enyone getting through this with children--especially young children. I can see how they give you great motivation to survive but it has to be hard to keep their needs front and center as you go through treatment.

Nelie