What Do I Tell My Kids?

My 28 year old ex-husband has been diagnosed with tongue cancer. They've already removed 1/3 of his tongue, but it has now spread to one lymph node. They admitted him to the hospital to do a round of chemo before he will have surgery.

He is not being very communicative about it with me. My boys (8, 6 and 5) know that he is sick, but they keep asking me questions, like "Is daddy going to die?"

Do I just let him do all the talking? If so, what should I say when they ask me?

Thanks so much for your help.

I am a true believer that you should definetly let your children know exactly what is going on.... Kids know more than you think.  If you are upfront and honest with them, they will eventually respect you more for that.  You don't have to tell them all the things that you know at their ages they won't understand, but you need to find a way to be totally honest with them...... And let them know that "daddy" has a very serious disease..... If he hasn't already tried to explain things, you should.   Don't let things catch them by surprise.

I hope things go well, I am a cancer survivor, still fighting the fight and have found that by being completely honest with my child about everything, he feels more comfort.... He doesn't have to keep things inside and constantly feel like he is left out of the loop.