She just turned one and she's a little angel. We are still waiting for some test results but everything is pointing to Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. As you would assume, I and the whole family are devastated and very confused. If there is anyone here who can give me any first hand information on what we can expect, I would be very greatfull.
Sorry to hear that. You should do a Google search. You might be able to find some forums with people under similar circumstances.
Wow. I know little to nothing about leukemia, so I can't help you there... Faos' advice is probably good. She'll be in my thoughts. Best wishes, bro.
Being young she has a good chance at being cured if they catch it soon enough. My mother got it at 59, and was not so lucky. I will pray for your niece. DD
eh, don't have much experience with leukemia except my ferret several years ago, wasn't so fortunate with it will be praying for ya man.
A very close friend of ours just went through this with their 10 year old. He went through several rounds of chemo over the past year and is now cancer free. Shoot me an email & I can get you in touch with them and their docs, support groups, etc.... I do know that Texas Children's Hospital was a godsend, they were wonderful with both the kid and the family.
so sad. For what it's worth, these days leukemia (though I don't know what "acute lymphoblastic" signifies) is usually curable in children when caught and treated early. Prayers...
I'm actually a leukemia survivor. I was diagnosed at 6 years old with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, and made a full recovery (I'm a healthy 22 now). These days it is VERY possible to make a complete recovery. DaDakota is right, the older they are the harder it is to recover from. In fact the statistics are in her favor, its actually really hard to be cured when you are 18 and over. What hospital is she at, if I might ask? I was treated at Texas Childrens and they do a very good job of being there for the family as well as the patient (Not just medically, but also socially). She is very young so the chemotherapy can do its job, and she can then continue to grow as any other child would. The doctors always told me that its better that I had it young because the chemotherapy was out of my system before puberty and other necessary developmental stages. The main thing is to keep the parents in good humor. The number one thing is to keep as much of a positive outlook on things. Young kids, and even babies, can sense the moods of the people around them. There are so many advances in medicine that can help her (some of the medication was fairly experimental and was a last resort for me and many other kids, but is now being used in common practice because it was so effective). They have come a long long way in treating the illness. If you have any questions I will be around and will try to check back as much as possible (If you want to send me an email feel free to at damianf19@hotmail.com)
as most diseases go.... if its Acute, the chances of curing it is high as long as it is detected early.... http://www.cancerbacup.org.uk/Cancertype/Leukaemiaacutelymphoblastic
Thanks for the support everyone, I really appreciate it. glcpimp, she's at Texas Childrens as well, and so far they have been outstanding. Like I said earlier, we are waiting on some tests come back and more to be done. We should know for sure after a bone marrow biopsy(?) is done tomorrow. By the way, they said they are going to have to take some spinal fluid as well. Do you know why?
Depending on the type, Leukemia can spread to the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, central nervous system and other organs or tissues. I would think that they are taking spinal fluid to determine if it has spread to her central nervous system. + Keep your hopes strong - with advanced technologies over the years, the survival rate has increased dramatically. According to this site, "improvements in diagnosis and treatment have produced cure rates that now exceed 70%." There's lots more information at that site. More info about Leukemia here -- droxford
