Transitioning to Adulthood
When a child finishes treatment for a brain tumor, the journey has only begun. There are several changes your child and family will experience over time, and it's important to plan for them.
Transitions are about change, about moving from one time in life to another. For children diagnosed with brain cancer, these changes can include transitioning from being on treatment to being off treatment, from being a patient to being a survivor, a child to a teen, or a teen to a young adult. Survivors may also transition from their parents making most of their medical decisions to becoming an active partner in those decisions.
Transition planning is a phrase your child’s healthcare team may use. It means getting ready for these changes and is an important part of life after treatment. This includes older survivors moving from getting medical care from doctors who treat children and teens to doctors who treat adults. It may also mean moving out of high school to whatever comes next.
Everyone faces challenges as they grow up, but these challenges may be more complicated when you’ve survived a brain tumor.
Becoming an adult is a major milestone for pediatric brain tumor survivors and their families. It's also the start of a new journey with a new set of challenges. We've partnered with survivorship experts and families to develop a guidebook to help you along the way.