Just got a call from a really close friend (almost like a brother), to say that their 5 year old grand daughter has just been diagnosed with lukemia. We are in shock to say the least. Right now I guess the only thing we can do is start praying.
Sad news for the holidays
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loon
Minister of Fire
Thankfully diagnosis of the disease is not automatically the grim prognosis that it was once was, but still a shock for all involved. Wishing the best of possible outcomes for her, her parents, grandparents, and all who love her.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Just echoing what SnowLeopard said . . . not good news and the family will have a long road ahead of them . . . but things have improved a lot in terms of treatment.
stejus
Minister of Fire
So sad to hear stuff like this, especially near the holidays. It's news like this that makes you thankful for what you've got. I can't imagine what the family is going through...
SlyFerret
Minister of Fire
I hope everything turns out OK.
As a new father, I'm learning first hand how stressful it is dealing with a child's health problems!
My son's issues have been minor so far, so I can only imagine how it must your friend must feel right now.
-SF
As a new father, I'm learning first hand how stressful it is dealing with a child's health problems!
My son's issues have been minor so far, so I can only imagine how it must your friend must feel right now.
-SF
RidgeRunner56
New Member
While not good news, a coworkers granddaughter was diagnosed with the same thing at 2 years of age. After almost 2 years of treatments, her last will be in March 2012, and will be free of the cancer. Prayers for this little ones full recovery
woodchip
Minister of Fire
So sorry to read of your friends news.
It's always a shock to get news of something like this with children, and nothing anyone can say will make things right.
However, my wife works as a volunteer at a childrens hospice, and I do have some experience with leukemia and other childrens illnesses.
The thing that we see surprisingly frequently is that families with children who have life threatening conditions like leukemia often find friends and acquaintances steer clear as they do not know what to say, and giving a wide berth is easier than approaching someone and not knowing what to say.
My thought is to be there when your friend needs you, and over the long term, there will be difficult times when chemo or other therapies are used and this is when your friend will need support the most.
Your friend will often feel isolated, as his priorities have just been changed without warning, his values have gone out of the window, and he will have to adjust to a new normal of hospital visits, doctors, and nurses and supporting his family in a way he never imagined.
A whole new language will have to be quickly learned, and if you can, try to learn some of this language so your friend can communicate with you on the same level.
You and your friend will get a lot of help and support from this site, there are lots of uplifting stories, and it can give advice on how to live with leukemia :
http://www.lls.org/
If there is anything practical I can do to help, let me know.....
It's always a shock to get news of something like this with children, and nothing anyone can say will make things right.
However, my wife works as a volunteer at a childrens hospice, and I do have some experience with leukemia and other childrens illnesses.
The thing that we see surprisingly frequently is that families with children who have life threatening conditions like leukemia often find friends and acquaintances steer clear as they do not know what to say, and giving a wide berth is easier than approaching someone and not knowing what to say.
My thought is to be there when your friend needs you, and over the long term, there will be difficult times when chemo or other therapies are used and this is when your friend will need support the most.
Your friend will often feel isolated, as his priorities have just been changed without warning, his values have gone out of the window, and he will have to adjust to a new normal of hospital visits, doctors, and nurses and supporting his family in a way he never imagined.
A whole new language will have to be quickly learned, and if you can, try to learn some of this language so your friend can communicate with you on the same level.
You and your friend will get a lot of help and support from this site, there are lots of uplifting stories, and it can give advice on how to live with leukemia :
http://www.lls.org/
If there is anything practical I can do to help, let me know.....
webbie
Seasoned Moderator
rottiman said:
I remember a relative who was 4 years old having that....I was about 8 years old. It's amazing how clueless I was when I was a kid - we had one cousin who was blind from birth...from an incubator, another couple who were premies (1.5 lbs, which in 1953 was really rare!)...because their mom took some drug which was banned soon after, etc. etc.
And yet, as a child I don't remember thinking twice of any of it - other than my cousin who was born at 6 months being a cool thing!
Of course, now that I am a parent and grandparent - I have to deal with disease and other such sufferings regularly. My wife sometimes asks me why....all this stuff happens - as if it only happens to us! The only small amounts of solace or words of wisdom I can offer are the following...
They don't tell us about this stuff in school! You often hear these "odds" of getting one disease or another. We have one in the family who has the "1 in 40,000", another with the "1 in 250", etc.
The real factoid is that if you ADD ALL THESE THINGS TOGETHER, which is the reality of the situation, we all have a big chance of being hit with disease and accidents.
I find the story of the Mustard Seed (Buddhist, not the Christian one!) to be very accurate in these cases - and a nicer way of saying what i said in #1.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/mourn.html#mustardseed
All we can do is to be grateful for the tools we have to alleviate some of the pain and suffering. However bad these things are now, they were much worse in the past.
I hope for the best for your friends!
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
GAMMA RAY said:
Sorry for the late update, but it is a somewhat complicated situation. She had to be taken to a childrens hospital about a 125 miles away. That makes it harder to get info up here. The specalists who are treating her are performing a huge amount of tests. They are not totally convinced that it is lukemia @ this time and are looking @ a number of other possible conditions including lymphoma. needless to say this just increases the stress level for all involved. Right now, she is a VERY sick little angel and all we can continue to do is pray. Fortunately, she is in the best possible facility we have here in Ontario for this sort of situation. Thanks to all who have taken the time to offer their prayers and support.
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