We felt that she needed to know that she could trust us to tell her the truth, however scary that would be. I saw a few incidents in the clinic of people with totally different styles who didn't tell their kids the truth. I have run into the bathroom at the clinic crying after overhearing a mother who had deceived her child into coming to the clinic. Then he found out he needed a back poke and completely lost it. It makes me cringe.
Children just have to be prepared.
We felt we had to tell Jessica the truth from the very beginning. She needed to know that she could trust us and it helped her understand why the treatments were necessary. We told her that her hair would fall out, but that it didn't matter. She would still be beautiful to us, with or without hair. It would grow back.