How To Live With Childhood Cancer
A parent never forgets where and how they heard that their young child has cancer
. From that point on their life is never the same.Whether the child has been diagnosed with leukemia, or a form of rhabdomyosarcoma, or some other form of childhood cancer, a family's life is now full of doctor visits, tests, and treatments. This is the new normal.
Getting through the first few months is perhaps the hardest. Everything is new and strange. The child might have a CT Scan, MRI, and Echo test which can seem frightening to a young child. The first week the parents and child will probably meet with the hospital pediatric oncology/hematology doctors and with the hospital social worker. Each time the child goes into the hospital, there are new nurses to get used to, until eventually the family has become acquainted with them all. Eventually the pediatric oncology wing becomes like a second home.
Parents with other children have to make time for them, as well as spending time at the hospital with their sick child. It's a delicate balancing act. If the hospital permits, siblings usually like to come with the parents to visit their brother or sister. But if the hospital does not allow siblings under a certain age, perhaps because of a flu scare, it makes it very hard on the siblings who have to stay home or stay with other family or friends.
Childhood cancer changes your entire life. The cure rate for leukemia has increased dramatically in the last 20 years. Similarly, the treatments for a sarcoma tumor have improved as doctors over the years have studied what works and what does not.
According to the cancer.org site, about 350 children each year are diagnosed with a sarcoma tumor. That number has stayed relatively stable since records started to be kept. Also, it is extremely rare that more than one child in a family will get a childhood cancer.
Doctors are still not sure why some children get cancer and many do not, as this is not a lifestyle cancer. In other words, children do not cause the cancer by their eating habits or where they live.
Researchers have found that sarcoma tumors are apparently started in the unborn baby when a mutation occurs in the cells. Then, at some point after birth, something in the cells start creating cancer cells.
Since doctors know childhood cancer is not a lifestyle cancer, there is no known way to prevent the cancer from starting to grow. For now, all the parents can do is get their child through treatment, whether it is as little as 6 months or as long as 4 years or more.
If your child has been diagnosed with a childhood cancer, do not think about the many hospital visits or the overwhelming number of blood tests and doctor visits you will be shuttling your child to. That could drive anyone insane. The best thing you can do is take one day at a time, share household responsibilities as well as childcare responsibilities, and keep a good sense of humor.
Remember that it is important, as a parent, to get enough sleep, eat well, and find time to relax, even in the midst of doctor visits and hospital stays. This can be a time of growing closer as a family, discovering new strengths, and coming through this stronger. If you need someone to talk to besides your spouse, turn to online support groups, the hospital social worker, or friends and family. You will be surprised how many people will be happy to help.
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