Hard words, made easy

Cancer comes with a lot of big words. Here they are, explained the way you’d tell a friend. It’s always okay to ask a grown-up if a word is still confusing.

504 plan / iep: A school plan that gives you extra help or flexibility — like more time, fewer assignments, or rest breaks — while you're going through treatment. Ask a counselor or your parents about it.
Alopecia: The doctor word for hair falling out. Say it like: al-oh-PEE-sha. The hair almost always grows back.
Aya: Short for 'Adolescent and Young Adult.' Some hospitals have teams and specialists just for people your age.
Biopsy: When a doctor takes a tiny piece of a lump to look at it closely and learn what it is. You get medicine so it doesn't hurt.
Cancer: When some cells in the body grow the wrong way instead of stopping like they should. It is nobody's fault, and you can't catch it.
Caregiver: Someone who helps take care of a person who is sick. In your family that might be your other parent, a relative, or even you a little bit — but it shouldn't all fall on you.
Cause: To make something happen. Kids do NOT cause cancer.
Cells: The teeny-tiny building blocks that make up your whole body. You have billions of them, way too small to see.
Chemo: Short for chemotherapy — strong medicine that travels through your blood to fight cancer cells all over the body.
Child life specialist: A person at the hospital whose job is to help kids feel calm, explain things, and even play.
Clinical trial: A research study that carefully tests new ways to treat cancer. Joining one is always a choice.
Contagious: Something you can catch from another person, like a cold. Cancer is NOT contagious.
Counselor: A trained person — often at school or a hospital — you can talk to privately about how you're feeling. It's normal to see one, and it's free at most schools.
Diagnosis: The name for what a doctor has figured out is going on in your body.
Eligible: Whether you fit the specific rules a study needs (like your age, type of cancer, or health). Every trial has its own list, so being eligible for one doesn't mean eligible for all.
Energy: The get-up-and-go your body uses to play, walk, and think. Cancer can use a lot of it up.
Fatigue: A really big tiredness that doesn't fully go away even after you sleep. Say it like: fuh-TEEG.
Feelings: The stuff you feel inside — happy, sad, mad, scared, and everything in between. All of them are okay.
Fertility: Whether your body may be able to have babies later in life. Some treatments can affect this, and there are often ways to protect it.
Follow-up care: Regular check-ins with your team after treatment ends — exams and sometimes scans — to make sure you stay healthy and to catch anything early.
Germs: Tiny things that can spread colds and flu. Cancer is not caused by germs.
Homebound / remote learning: Ways to keep up with school from home or the hospital when you can't be in the building.
Immune system: Your body's defense against germs. Some treatments make it weaker, so you may need to avoid crowds or sick people for a while.
Informed consent: A process where the team explains a trial fully — the good, the risks, and the unknowns — before you decide. You sign only if you and your family choose to, and you can change your mind later.
Iv: A tiny soft tube that goes into a vein so medicine or fluid can go right into your blood. It pinches for a second, then you don't feel it.
Jealous: Feeling left out or wishing you had what someone else has. It's a normal feeling, even about a sick brother or sister.
Late effects: Health changes that can show up months or years after treatment. Your team knows what to watch for and checks for them, which is a big reason follow-up visits matter.
Nurse: A person at the hospital who gives medicine, checks how you feel, and helps take care of you every day.
Oncologist: A doctor who is an expert in cancer. Say it like: on-CALL-oh-jist.
Port: A little button placed under the skin so medicine can go in without lots of pokes.
Radiation: A special beam, a bit like a very strong X-ray, that fights cancer in one spot. You don't feel it happening.
Remission: When the signs of cancer go away after treatment. It's a happy word that means the treatment worked.
Scan: A special picture of the inside of your body. It doesn't hurt — you just hold really still.
Scanxiety: The worried feeling some people get around scan time. It's so common it has its own nickname.
Second opinion: Asking another doctor to look at your case too. It's normal and allowed — good doctors don't mind.
Sibling: A brother or sister.
Side effect: Something else the medicine does besides fighting cancer, like making you tired. It usually gets better after treatment.
Social worker: Someone on your team who helps with feelings, school, money worries, and figuring things out — not just paperwork.
Support group: A group of people going through something similar who meet to talk and help each other. Some are just for teens with a parent who has cancer.
Surgery: When a doctor gently takes out a tumor while you're asleep and can't feel anything.
Survivorship: Life after cancer treatment — including your health, your feelings, and getting back to the stuff you care about.
Treatment: The medicine and care that help fight the cancer. It can make your parent tired for a while.
Treatment plan: The doctors' step-by-step plan for treating your cancer — what, how, and for how long.
Tumor: A lump that forms when cancer cells clump together. Not every lump is cancer, though.

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