Leukemia In Children: What It Is And How To Deal With It

Childhood leukemia is the type of cancer that affects them the most. We cannot avoid it, but we can tell you everything you want to know about this disease and what you can do to cope with it.

If you are reading this, you may have suspicions or confirmation that a child near you has leukemia. It’s scary, we know, but we want to offer you a lot of information on the subject to reassure you.

It has a high percentage of cure , and not only medical treatment can help them. You too can do something to support your little one.

What is leukemia?

Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects blood cells, usually white blood cells . It is produced by a transformation in cells, before they become white blood cells, so that they become cancerous, reproducing without stopping.

They infiltrate the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells . This causes the levels of platelets and red blood cells to also decrease, which ends up producing anemia and an increased risk of contracting infections.

In addition, cancer cells can travel through the bloodstream, entering other organs, such as the liver, spleen, kidneys or brain.

Causes of Leukemia in Children

But what causes this disease? Is there any predisposing factor to suffer it?

• Among genetic factors , it is known that certain disorders, such as Down syndrome or Fanconi syndrome, directly correlate with the probability of suffering from leukemia.
• As for environmental factors, exposure to high levels of radiation directly influences the cellular mutations of leukemia. Also some chemicals and certain drugs can increase the risk.
• Finally, a weakened immune system can also favor the mutation of cells to cancerous ones.

How is leukemia in children detected?

There are many tests to be carried out to check if there really is leukemia. Here are some of them.

• Blood test. A complete blood cell count can help detect leukemia in children.
• Bone marrow tests.
• Lumbar puncture.
• Lymph node biopsy.

These tests help discover the presence of leukemia, but it does not mean that recommending these tests to your child is suspected of having leukemia. The same test can be used to detect different pathologies .

From the moment there is a firm diagnosis, the fight against leukemia begins. Although we are talking about cancer, it can be overcome. Depending on the type of leukemia suffered, the survival rate can reach up to 85% of cases .

Everything will depend on the early diagnosis and the effectiveness of the treatment applied.

Tips for parents

Childhood leukemia can wreak havoc on parents, who watch their little ones suffer and fight a really tough disease. If this is your case, we want to support you and provide you with some guidelines that you can use.

• Trust your son . Being a child is not being weak. The strength of your little one is going to surprise you enormously . Trust his full potential and remind him that he is much stronger than he imagines.
• Don’t hold back your emotions and thoughts. During the process you can fall apart, and you have a right to it. Find spaces and people with whom you can express your fears and take advantage of them. You will feel much better after doing it.
• Don’t lie to your son . You can tailor the answers to his questions so that he can understand it, but don’t fool him. You deserve to know the truth and ask anything you don’t understand.
• Support your child and listen to him . He also needs to know that he can express what he thinks about his fears and emotions to you. If he thinks it hurts to tell you what he feels, he won’t show you . You can offer them a place to say everything they think.

• Don’t take him out of his routines as much as possible . Try to prevent illness from dominating your child’s life and yours. It is a part of your life history, but it is not everything. Encourage him to study and continue to do whatever extracurricular activities he can and have fun doing it.
• Friends, family, social life. It is important that you notice the support of those around you. Do not stop looking around you and allow others to take care of you and show you their support.

It is true that leukemia will make a difference not only for your child’s life, but also for the whole family. But approaching that change in the best way depends solely on you. Making a child happy is a parenting mission that never ends.