What Parents Need to Know About Dealing with Leukemia in Children
Leukemia is the most common cancer in children for approximately one-third of all cancers.
Timely diagnosis and advanced treatment modalities have significantly improved the survival rates in children with leukemia.
Parenting a child with leukemia
Deal with the diagnosis of your child
Ask questions
Gain as much knowledge as possible about leukemia and its treatment, from reliable sources. You will find that gaining knowledge about the condition would make it less intimidating to you, and you may feel more prepared to support your child.
Parents can clarify their doubts and concerns by asking the following questions to the cancer care team:
What type of leukemia does my child have?
What are the treatment choices?
What will the duration of the treatment be?
What are the risks and side effects associated with this treatment?
What would the cost of the treatment be? Will my health insurance cover it?
Will the treatment affect my child’s ability to grow and develop?
Will cancer recur?
Consider going for
Seeking a opinion can help get a better understanding of the disease and its prognosis, and gain confidence about the treatment options. During the consultation, it is important to give exact details of your child’s diagnostic reports and other documents to the new doctor.
Based on the , may be in a better position to make decisions about the best treatment for child.
Manage and organise your child’s medical records
healthcare team and insurance companies have paper-intensive processes of payments and reimbursements.
Keeping an organized file with copies of all hospital bills and medical reports would be of great help in several ways. It would help the treating doctors to understand the treatment course, the insurance companies to reimburse the bills without delay, and finally, it will help you to understand the whole process.
Manage your finances
Treatment for leukemia is expensive. For this reason, parents are likely to feel a financial burden during ongoing cancer treatment.
A basic health insurance policy can help in covering the costs associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment, including hospitalization.
Seek support from family and support groups
a child suffering from leukemia can be overwhelming. Cancer care is a team effort, and finding the right support can help you to stay strong and focused on providing appropriate care for your child.
Sharing your thoughts and feelings with your loved ones and your family will give you the strength to cope with the situation. Learn to accept help from them.
A healthy conversation with other parents in a similar situation will also help to reduce your stress and anxiety. There are also several support groups that support cancer patients and their family with mental and emotional support.
Go for follow-up visits
Follow-up is important as it ensures that the long-term side effects of the treatment are diagnosed and treated on time, and the child is screened for the recurrence of leukemia. The follow-up visits are usually scheduled
Take care of the child’s nutrition