When Jill began to ask her doctor, he explained a lot more about how the cancer was making
bad cells instead of good cells and that she would need to go to a hospital to have treatment with
something called “chemotherapy,” which was the use of very strong medicines to help kill off the bad
cells. He told her that sometimes the medicine might make children feel sick and sleepy, that it was
so strong she might even lose her hair. He rubbed his own bald head and said, with a laugh, “You
might look as handsome as me for a while.” Jill laughed, too.
When Nana came to visit her in the hospital, they would laugh and joke. “It helps to keep pos-
itive,” Nana said. “When things get scary here, think about the good times you can have when you
get back home, when you’re playing with your friends again, or when you’re on your next vacation.”
As Jill lay in a machine having radiation therapy, she tried to do what Nana suggested. It wasn’t
always easy, but if she tried hard she could imagine herself being in a spaceship, off on a great adven-
ture. She used the time, off in space, to plan what she was going to do when she got back home from
the adventure.
Going back to school was hard at first. Some of the other kids stared at her and asked her why
she had shaved her hair off. She felt weak and tired, not like her old self, but—before long—her hair
started to grow back and she was able to play with her friends just as she had done before.
She still has to see her doctor from time to time. On one visit he said, “You’ll have to teach me
your secret.”
“What secret?” she asked, feeling puzzled.
Rubbing his bald head again, he answered, “The secret of how you got your hair to grow back!”
STORY 86
FINDING SOLUTIONSTherapeutic Characteristics
Problems Addressed
■ Family conflicts
■ Father-son conflicts
■ Adolescent issues
■ “Undesirable” friendships
■ Underachievement
■ Substance abuseResources Developed
■ Owning responsibility for change
■ Looking for practical solutions
■ Setting goals
■ Focusing on the outcome
■ Sticking with decisions
■ Learning to “just do it”MANAGING CHALLENGESManaging Life’s Challenging Times 201