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How I Told My Students I Have Cancer
Guest post by Justin Birckbichler
What's harder than hearing you have cancer? To me, telling my fourth grade students that I have cancer and I'll have to miss months of school to get it treated was so much harder than hearing it myself.
On my first day back after surgery, the students filtered in, excited to see me again. Little did they know, we only had about a week together before I would leave again.
Tears, bewilderment, awkward glances. These were the predominant reactions I saw in the sea of nine- and 10-year-old faces.
"Before I say anything more, I want you to know this is very treatable. I will be ok, but I will need chemotherapy for a few months. I will be here this week and maybe next, but I don't know when I'll be back."
In an instant, their small frames of reference had changed. A 4th grader's biggest concern is usually solving a multiplication problem (or more accurately, if they traded their Charizard EX for a better card), but now they were hearing that their teacher had cancer, which can be one of the scariest words for a person of any age.
I asked if they had questions.
Of course they did.
Was I in pain? No, not really. How did I know I was sick? I had felt something wrong on my body. (Because they were 4th graders, I did not get into my specific type of cancer. With older students, I would have, especially because most testicular cancer diagnoses occur in 15 to 35-year-old men). Would I lose my hair? Probably. Would I die? Almost definitely not. My prognosis had over a 90 percent cure rate, which are incredible odds.
Justin Birckbichler is a 4th grade teacher in Stafford, Va., and a Google for Education Certified Innovator. He is currently battling testicular cancer and has a strong prognosis of being 100 percent cured (not just in remission). You can follow his journey and help spread awareness. Read a longer version of this story at his educational blog. Connect with him directly via Twitter or email.
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