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Bereavement
Losing a child is possibly the most difficult thing a parent can experience. Grief can affect each person emotionally, physically, cognitively and behaviorally. Many people express grief in an outward way; for example, crying, a lack of energy or trouble sleeping. Others, on the surface, may not seem to be grieving. Instead, these people process grief internally. Their grief may go unrecognized and unacknowledged. Be aware that grief is personal and specific to the person. Try not to make judgments about how you, your co-parent or others process the loss of your child.
Survivorship
Survivorship WorkbookUse this Survivorship Workbook to collect all the important information you need throughout diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care and long-term management of a blood cancer.
Healthcare for Undocumented Persons
In most states, undocumented immigrants are not eligible to enroll in Medicare, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or to buy Marketplace health coverage. There may be limited options for coverage for emergency services; however, cancer treatment may not constitute emergency care.
Side Effects
Both cancer therapy and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can produce side effects. For most patients, side effects are temporary and subside once the body adjusts to therapy or when therapy is completed. For other patients, side effects can be more severe, sometimes requiring hospitalization. The side effects of chemotherapy may vary, depending on the drugs used and the overall health of the patient.
Before you undergo treatment, talk with your doctor about potential side effects. Medication and other therapies can prevent or manage many side effects.
Zoie
My mom thought it was the flu, maybe mono. After I spent five days lying in bed, she took me to an Urgent Care Clinic. I knew it was something far more serious after they called an ambulance. My mom wouldn’t believe the Urgent Care doctor when he told her he suspected it was cancer. Unfortunately, he was right. I was 11 when I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Cindy
Our church choir had put on a big Easter program in 2002, lots of practices and multiple performances. After the fact, several, including me, came down with an upper respiratory infection. All my friends got better, but I didn’t. Then I started having low energy to the point that I couldn’t do my daily workouts. Next came the appearance of big, ugly bruises on my legs. At that point, I thought I was anemic. When I called to get a doctor’s appointment, the only opening was with his nurse practitioner.
Avery
I am writing as a parent of a cancer survivor. My daughter, Avery Smith, who is now 8 years old, was diagnosed at age 3½ with leukemia. In 2016, our then 3-year-old daughter Avery was complaining of muscle aches, backaches, and for a solid week was running a pretty high fever. We took her to the doctor, and after a few visits, they weren’t really sure what was going on. After some bloodwork, our pediatrician called us and said Avery had some very concerning numbers.
Maggie
I often said that cancer showed up at the worst time for me. I was finishing my first year of medical school and was in the midst of a very busy season finishing all the planning for my upcoming wedding. But honestly, is there ever a good time for cancer to show up? Would it have been better five years later as a busy, working doc? Or even later on with kids to take care of? Likely not. The truth is cancer is never a welcome visitor. It disrupts everything and turns life upside down.
John
In January 2020, I had returned to my home outside of Charleston, South Carolina, from a 28-day assignment to Anchorage, Alaska. Even though I had returned on December 15, I had picked up what we thought was a cold. The cold would not go away. My wife insisted that I get a chest x-ray for what we thought was pneumonia. Cancer was the last thing on my mind. I was working as an aircraft mechanic at Joint Base Charleston.
Towanna
I am Towanna, and I am a lymphoma survivor! I have been in remission for 17 years and counting.
Virginia
I have been living with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) since August 6, 1997. The way I see it, I’m alive today because of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The pill I take each day that keeps my leukemia in remission exists today much because of research grants awarded to Brian Druker, M.D., PhD., of Oregon Health & Science University.
Berenise
On October 22, 2013, as a senior in college, I was spontaneously diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I was immediately admitted into the hospital and began chemotherapy. The doctors basically said, "good luck”, as I received the routine treatment that has a survival rate of 25%. My life was flipped upside down in a matter of days. I went from planning what I was going to do after college, to deciding if I would want people at my funeral to wear black or be colorful. I didn't know whether to cry, scream, or be angry.
Doug
I have always been a builder. Professionally, I am an architect. You could say that I’ve spent my life building spaces where people could grow. I never imagined, however, that I would someday have to rebuild my own. In February 2015, after experiencing months of excruciating and debilitating back pain that doctors mistakenly attributed to deteriorating lower lumbar discs, I had an MRI that revealed multiple vertebral compressed fractures.
Joseph
Feb 10, 2012 has forever changed our lives. Joseph was 6 years old and in his fifth month of kindergarten. Joe's journey actually began many months prior. Shortly after starting kindergarten there were ear infections, fevers, belly pain, joint swelling and bone pain. All this from a child who was always very healthy. Feb 10, 2012, the definitive diagnosis of pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was echoing through my head. Joe was admitted to the hospital immediately and taken to the pediatric hematology/oncology floor.
Charles
I was alone with my doctor in the hospital when she told me I had no bone marrow matches in the world. I cried a lot that day. I was admitted two weeks prior, after relapsing from acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive blood cancer. As a husband, father and criminal prosecutor, I’ve dedicated my life to caring for my loved ones and protecting my community. Now, leukemia was threatening my life and there was no one that could protect me from it.
Allyson
In November 2016 I was tired. TIRED. I had a 20-month-old and a 4-year-old, had just come off the busiest month of the year for work, and I figured I was tired for no other reason. But then tired became not having the energy to take care of my 20-month-old. Tired became going to be my best friend's wedding and needing to lay down in between steps. Shower, lay down. Makeup, lay down. Hair, lay down. Get dressed, sit for a minute. Walking a long hallway seemed daunting. And then carrying my son from my car at a gas station to the restroom inside on a road trip was too much.
Santino
I was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) and underwent an autologous bone marrow transplant back in 2015. By the grace of God, I have been cancer-free for seven years. I was inspired to write some poems after my experience. One of them has actually been published. I hope my poems bring hope to the many cancer warriors out there fighting for their lives. If you are fighting cancer at this very moment, never quit. Remember, you have cancer, cancer does not have you. Every second your heart beats, you always have a chance. God has the final say.
Stefan
Not that long ago, leukemia was an invariably fatal disease. These cancers presented with such ferocity and aggression that in many cases patient decline was rapid, usually within weeks of initial diagnosis. This all changed in the 1940s when Dr. Sidney Farber pioneered the use of antimetabolite chemicals as a means of killing leukemia cells, the birth of the chemotherapy revolution.
Siri
Siri is the most resilient, loving, inspiring, authentic, and brilliant woman I have ever met. She lives each day to the fullest and is filled with gratitude for all life and for every breath she takes. Her joy, light, and exuberance illuminate all around her. She is a two-time World Champion Triathlete, a top 10 global speaker, a best-selling author, a Tony Robbins keynote speaker at his worldwide events, saves horses from abuse, and so much more. Her life's mission is to help others. Here's a very condensed version of her story.
Targeted Therapy
Targeted therapy is a type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific types of cancer cells with less harm to normal cells. Not all cancers have the same targets. Each type of targeted therapy works a little bit differently, but they all interfere with the growth and survival of cancer cells. To find the most effective treatment, your doctor may run tests to identify the genes, proteins and other factors in your cancer cells. This helps the doctor choose the most effective treatment for you based on the specific factors of your disease.
CLL Staging
Doctors use staging to help them predict chronic lymphocytic leukemia's (CLL's) progression and develop an appropriate treatment plan. Two staging systems, the Rai system and the Binet System, have been used throughout the world. In 2016, a new prognostic model called the CLL International Prognostic Index (CLL-IPI) was released, enabling a more targeted management of CLL.
Staging systems for CLL take into account:
Fertility and Pregnancy
Fertility, Pregnancy and TKIsPatients of childbearing age, as well as the parents of children with cancer, should ask their healthcare team to explain how treatment may affect fertility (the ability to have children). Patients with CML who will be taking TKIs should discuss fertility preservation with their doctors before starting TKI therapy.
Growing numbers of CML patients of childbearing age are living in stable remissions and are considering having children while being treated for CML. There is no risk that parents will pass the Ph chromosome onto their children.
Diagnosis
Diagnosing chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) usually involves a series of repeated tests, including blood and bone marrow tests. Your doctor usually can't confirm a diagnosis of CMML with one lab test result that shows abnormal blood counts. Instead, he or she will monitor you over a period of time with repeated lab tests that show abnormal blood counts. This is done to rule out other diagnoses.
Bone marrow testing involves two steps usually done at the same time in a doctor's office or a hospital:
Refractory and Relapsed
Almost all myeloma patients will experience relapse (the cancer returns after a successful course of treatment) and/or the disease will become refractory (the cancer does not respond to treatment). The choice of a treatment regimen at relapse is affected by many factors including previous therapy, rate of relapse, patient health, and genetic abnormalities.