RICHLAND, Wash. — Tiffany Larson of the Meadow Springs Ward, Richland Washington Stake, has just become a successful writer and illustrator. She is 9 years old. A booklet she wrote called, "My Mom Has Cancer," has been published, and will be placed in cancer treatment centers and doctors' offices throughout the country.
Tiffany's mother, Heidi, was just 33 years old in February 1999 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Her treatment included surgery, followed by radiation and chemotherapy, with accompanying loss of hair and profound weakness. The following April, Tiffany, her youngest daughter, an 8-year-old second grader, was really struggling to grasp just how sick her mother was. Tiffany said, "She would always be in bed, and she couldn't help me with my homework."
Sister Larson tried to explain her illness to her daughter in simple terms. "The doctor has to remove the sick tissue." Tiffany's mind translated that to mean tissue, like "Kleenex." Heidi realized that she had to give something more than just explanations for Tiffany to understand what was occurring.
Shortly after Heidi started chemotherapy treatments, she had lunch in a restaurant with her mother and Tiffany. Heidi was wearing a baseball cap. Tiffany was worried about people making fun of her mother looking like that. With her mother's encouragement, Tiffany began writing down her feelings on the computer. "My mom has cancer. At first I was scared, but I got over it."
Tiffany not only wrote down thoughts and feelings, but was able to illustrate through pictures, each emotion that was washing over her during this critical time in her young mother's life.
Heidi showed Tiffany's creation to doctors at the local cancer treatment center. A doctor there had a contact at the UCLA medical center. From there, the booklet went to Varian Medical, which decided to publish it. "My Mom Has Cancer" will be used as an educational piece with an added medical perspective.
The booklet is designed to help other children know that the treatment of cancer can be a frightening but, ultimately, manageable process. Tiffany was paid $3,500 for publication of the booklet, which will be placed in cancer centers and hospitals throughout the country.
When Tiffany received the check, her first thought was to pay the Lord His 10 percent. Sister Larson allowed her daughter to have $150 for "mad money," and the rest will go into an account for the future. Neither Sister Larson nor her daughter have any interest in writing a sequel. Sister Larson's cancer is in remission, and Tiffany thinks that "being an author would be kind of boring." Tiffany plans to be a school teacher when she grows up.
