Because It ‘Helps to Talk About It’

There are some topics that teens just don’t want to discuss with their parents. And though they can relate more easily to their friends, there are times when they can’t help either.

That’s how Kelly Hill felt when she found out that her mother, Jane Hill, had breast cancer.

“I felt really alone because none of my friends’ parents had cancer, and I didn’t have any siblings to talk to,” the 17-year-old Santa Ana resident said.

That is how Hill came to be a charter member of Kids Konnected, a support group for children whose parents have cancer.

Since it was established four years ago, Kids Konnected has grown into a national organization with 18 chapters and 3,500 members. And this summer, Hill is taking the Kids Konnected message to teenagers in Europe.

As the recipient of a scholarship based on an essay she wrote, Hill will travel to Europe to share her work as a national leader of Kids Konnected.

“It really helps to talk about it. I know it would help kids all over the world,” said Hill, who will be a senior at Mater Dei High School in the fall.

Hill was 10 years old when her mother was found to have breast cancer. She knew little of the disease, other than what she had heard on television. Her first thought was that actor Michael Landon had died of cancer.

“I thought that cancer meant death,” she said. “I thought my mom was going to die.”

Hill’s initial involvement with the group was a way of saving herself. Isolated and confused, she found a sympathetic group with whom she could share her fear.

At monthly Kids Konnected meetings, youngsters 3 to 17 years old share their experiences, ask questions of guest medical experts and participate in therapy sessions with psychologists.

Jane Hill has been fortunate. After five surgeries, her cancer is in remission. But just because the Hill family’s worst days have passed, Kelly Hill has no plans to give up her involvement with the group.

She is still the head of the Irvine chapter of Kids Konnected as well as a member of the organization’s national advisory council.

She has twice spoken at national cancer symposiums about how doctors, nurses and social workers can better address the problems the whole family will face when one member receives a diagnosis of cancer.

Next year, she plans to travel to high schools to talk to teenagers about early detection of cancer.

“We’re lucky because we’re still here,” her mother said. “And we want to help people because we know what it’s like to go through it.”

Information: (800) 899-2866.