Apr
Hello all I’ve a 4 year old god son that was diagnosed with Leukemia 2 days ago and I was wondering…what's going to happen to him? What will they have to do? Is there a cure for it? How long does treatment last? What are the chances that he’ll come out of this okay? I'm just trying to get as much information as I can I feel horrible for his mom and dad because it was only 2 years ago that they lost their infant son to SIDS and now this…I don't know how much more they (or I) can handle…I know that God doesn't give you more than you can handle but this is ridiculous!! Any answers (and prayers) are welcomed and thank you all so very much!!!!
Answer:
I'm not sure what type of Leukemia your god son was diagnosed with so it will be different depending on what type. The subtype ALL is most common, especially in kids, but I don't
A cancer diagnosis is each parent's worst nightmare. My son was diagnosed with a Wilms' Tumour as a newborn, won his battle, and was recently diagnosed with Secondary Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). AML is related to ALL but is still quite different. The best thing they can do is to educate themselves and speak with other parents of tiny warriors. ASK QUESTIONS. They should ask their son's oncologist, ask the nurses, ask friends, ask family, ask here (as you have), ask anyone anything and they shouldn't be afraid to ask for help too. The web is an excellent place to meet other parents all over the world and share inspirational stories about your tiny heroes. One such great website is call People Against Childhood Cancer (PAC2). There are tons of wonderful people here who have children that survived, have earned their wings, and who are currently fighting their battles. They all have great advise and are all warm and welcoming.
The first person I met after my son was diagnosed the first time told me to make a caringbridge site for my son Eli. This was the most wonderful thing I could have been told. We gave the website to family and friends so they could keep up with E's progress without having to constantly ask us. This gave us more time to spend devoted to fighting for E and being with our other 7 children. The other thing is get their other children (if they’ve any) involved in his treatment. Since all of our kids are too little to fully understand what cancer is, we told them that E isn't home because he's being very brave and fighting a monster right now.
Your warrior will probably be very scared for quite a bit of it and that's normal. You just have to stay strong for him and his parents and make sure he knows it's ok. And yes, it is perfectly fine for you to have moments of sobbing. My wife and I sure have but we try our hardest to stay as strong as we possibly can in front of E and our other children.
There is no “cure” for cancer but there are very effective ways of treating it. The most common treatments include chemotherapy (individualized to each case), radiation therapy, and sometimes even surgery. Many people go into remission and live perfectly normal, long lives after treatment is completed. In my opinion, you should never look at statistics. Each case is very different depending on the type of cancer, the subtype, how advanced it is, the treatment given, and the patient's outlook. Kids typically have very positive outlooks which definitely benefit them.
Depending on what type and subtype of leukemia your god son has, his treatment and treatment length will vary. My son E has completed 3 rounds (each round involves 5-7 days of chemo then 23-25 days of recovery). He finished his remission induction chemo and he's now on his 4th round which is the start of his consolidation chemo. Remission induction, I believe, is general among both AML and ALL and is used to induce remission. Once remission has been established (95% of cases this occurs after just 1 round), consolidation chemo is slightly weaker or a different drug combination used in order to kill remaining cancerous cells. It usually lasts for about 4-8 months. For AML, this is typically the last chemo used to treat patients. I believe it's also used in ALL patients. After this, for ALL patients, maintenance chemotherapy is given to maintain remission and lasts usually for 2-3 years.
The biggest reaction E has had to chemo is nausea. There are many great anti-nausea drugs out there that work wonders for our warriors. The ones E had for his couple last round didn’t work for him and he spent about a week with an NG tube each time because he couldn't/wouldn't eat or drink. So far this round he hasn't gotten sick so I'm pretty hopeful that his consolidation chemo will be easier on him than the induction was. I'm not sure the exact cocktail of drugs your god son will be on but make sure you’ve all of the information about each chemo drug. Again, ask questions.
If there's anything else you have questions about or if you want to swap stories or anything feel free to contact me email (crazycanuckj@yahoo.ca) or IM (crazycanuckj). I hope the ideal for your warrior, you, and the rest of your family.
Answer:
Depends on what type of leukemia he has. A family friend survived leukemia, two classmates survived it when I was in high school, my neighbor did, and my sisters classmate in elementary school. He’ll most likely get chemotherapy and your oncologist will be the only person to know how long treatment will last. Leukemia is very curable, as long as it's not Acute myelogenous leukemia, which is more common in adults, your child will have a high rate of survival. God be with your son, he’ll be in my prayers tonight.
Answer:
I’ll pray for your godson. The only experience I have with this is my neighbor across the street whose daughter survived Wilm's.
She’s a lovely teenager now.