It’s Okay if My Mommy Changes I Still Love Her
Children’s Nonfiction Book
By Jill Lowe
When a mommy is diagnosed with breast cancer, her little girl feels afraid. What will happen to her mommy? As her mother finds a way to gently tell her daughter about her treatments and how she will temporarily change, the little girl soon discovers that having a mommy with cancer isn’t as scary as she thought. In this children’s tale inspired by real events, a child learns all about illness, medicine, and most importantly, hope after her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer.
The author Jill Lowe was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at the age of 36. At the time of her diagnosis, her daughter was 4 years old. Over the course of two years, she had 5 surgeries, 8 chemotherapy treatments, and 25 radiation treatments. After she finished her last surgery, she wrote this children’s book. The book is written from the child’s perspective and is her daughter speaking to other children about the changes she witnessed in her mother during her mother’s cancer journey. It is based on actual events and conversations Jill had with her daughter. Most of the illustrations in the book are from photos taken during Jill’s cancer journey. As an example, the cover is a replica of a Christmas photo of Jill and her daughter when she was going to chemotherapy and wearing a wig. It takes the reader from pre-diagnosis to biopsy to chemotherapy and to present day when the mother feels better. Jill wrote the book to help other families speak with their children about the cancer and to give the families hope.
