But ask about her hopes for the future and she pauses for a moment, and then says that she'd like nothing better than to sit down away from the spotlight to a Sunday family dinner with her sister, her mom and her dad. Just the four of them. Just like before.

"Before" takes the family back to last summer when Chantal's father Jeff was diagnosed with cancer. The father and daughter played tennis together in leagues and tournaments and she paints a picture of a dad who was easy to talk with, had unlimited energy and unflagging optimism.

The cancer diagnosis was "like having a brick wall fall over on you," she says, "and then you're trapped under it, and there's more and more debris and you can't get out." Suddenly the dad who seemed so strong had aged overnight, often didn't feel well enough to sit down to family dinner, and struggled to find his optimism.

Her mother, Dorothy, heard about Kids Can Cope, a program run by psycho-social services for children dealing with cancer in the family. Kids Can Cope facilitator Laura Cavicchi notes that children have different problems than adults when cancer is diagnosed within the family. She says that many have never been exposed to serious illness, don't necessarily understand the corresponding feelings, and haven't developed the skills to know how to respond. They face an additional burden: a death in the family could change where they live, where they go to school, and their ability to stay in touch with friends.

Kids Can Cope begins with a tour of the treatment facilities at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre. Chantal says it allowed her to see that even though he was really sick, her dad was actually one of the luckier ones because his cancer, melanoma, could be treated successfully. She saw that many cancer patients were worse off.

Cavicchi describes Kids Can Cope as peer support rather than as group therapy. "They are not alone and the peer support not only decreases the sense of the isolation but also allows them to learn different strategies and ideas from each other."

Chantal always told her dad she "was fine" when he asked, but found the stress difficult at home, at school and with her friends. "You'd be in the middle of biology and you'd be trying to think and you can't. You're just thinking about what is this happening to my family and why did God punish my family? You're on edge, you think you're strong, but then somebody will say something and a little thing will break you."

Her close friends knew what she was going through, but she says it was tough to tell others without sounding "like you were playing the cancer card."  And when she did talk about it, "they'd get all awkward. It sucks."

In Kids Can Cope Chantal met another girl her age going through the same thing.  She felt less alone and more in control. "You can actually help, like doing the dishes and helping my mom. I now don't feel just like asking why did it happen to my family, it happens to a lot of people."

If you know a family that needs Kids Can Cope, they can get more information at: (403) 355-3207. The program runs for five weeks after school twice a year.

 Kids Can Cope information brochure (PDF)
 Learn about other counselling and support resources.