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DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENTS
Diagnosis
Treatments
Diagnosis
There are many tests doctors can use to determine whether or not
a person has cancer, and what type of cancer it is. You probably
already know about some of these diagnostic tests. If your child
needs to undergo one or more of them, it is possible that he or
she will miss school to go to the hospital or clinic. It
can sometimes help to explain the procedure to your child's
teacher or school nurse to minimize misunderstandings about why
your child is out of school. Some of the common diagnostic tests
for childhood cancer are described below.
Laboratory Tests
Doctors can use samples of blood or urine to test for the presence
of tumors in the body. The blood test will usually involve a needle
stick in the crook of the arm. If your child returns to school after
the blood test, he or she will probably have a small bandage over
the spot where the sample was drawn. The urine sample should be
painless, but it may be embarrassing for your child if he or she
has never had to give one before.
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Imaging
X-rays, ultrasounds, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT or CAT) scans,
are all types of imaging tests that doctors use to see the inside
of the body. Tumors can be seen in the pictures taken from these
tests. It does not hurt to have an imaging test, but it can take
a long time for doctors to get some of the pictures they want. This
means a child may be given a mild sedative to help him or her lie
still until the test is over. If your child needs an imaging test,
he or she will probably miss one day of school.
Biopsy
During a biopsy, doctors remove a small sample of cells or bone marrow from the body and examine it under a microscope
to see if cancer cells are present. Depending on where the biopsy
is and how large a sample is removed, your child might be asleep
under general anesthesia during the surgery. If your child is awake,
he or she will be given medicine so that the biopsy is not painful.
Whether your child is asleep or awake during the biopsy, the biopsied
area will probably feel sore and tender afterward. Your child may
miss more than one day of school to recover from the operation.
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Treatments
There are four primary ways to treat childhood cancer. You are probably
learning about these treatment options from your child's doctors.
While your child is having cancer treatments, he or she will most
likely miss many days of school. It can help you, your child, and
your child's teachers to understand how the treatments work
so you can all prepare for prolonged school absences accordingly.
Some of the common treatments for childhood cancer are described
below. These treatments can be used alone or in combination with
one another.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses very strong drugs to destroy cancer cells or stop
cancer cells from growing. Doctors choose from among the different chemotherapy drugs which combination is best for each child and each particular cancer. During chemotherapy treatments, the drugs
are given every day for a few days at a time, followed by a few
days when no drugs are given. This cycle can continue for several
months until the tumor is gone. Chemotherapy can also be used to
shrink a tumor before surgery or after surgery to keep a tumor
from returning.
While your child is having chemotherapy treatments, he or she can
feel very tired. Feelings of nausea and vomiting are also common
with chemotherapy. Because chemotherapy drugs are designed to destroy
fast-growing cells like cancer cells, hair loss is also common during
treatment. This may be one of the hardest side effects for your
child to cope with if he or she is going back to school. Your son
or daughter may wish to wear hats or scarves, or
your child may choose to show off his or her new style with pride.
It may be hard for you, as a parent with so many other concerns
during this time, to understand how upsetting the hair loss can
be for your child. Try to be patient and encourage whatever
new look your child adopts.
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Radiation
During radiation treatments, high-energy rays, such as x-rays, are
used to destroy or damage cancer cells so that they cannot multiply.
The rays are aimed at the spot where the tumor is growing. Radiation
treatments are painless, and each session only takes a few minutes.
As with chemotherapy, radiation can be used with other treatments
to shrink a tumor before surgery or after surgery to destroy remaining
cancer cells.
The side effects of radiation treatments depend on where your child
is being treated. Skin exposed to the high-energy rays can become
easily irritated or darkened from exposure. As with chemotherapy,
your child could lose his or her hair in the area being treated.
Radiation treatments can also make a person feel very tired.
Surgery
Doctors use surgery to remove cancer cells and tumors from the body.
When a tumor is removed during surgery, doctors will usually also
take out some of the tissue and lymph nodes surrounding it. This
is to make sure that all of the cancer cells are removed from the
body. Children with leukemia may have a bone marrow transplant,
a specific kind of surgery used to replace cancerous bone marrow
with healthy bone marrow.
If your child is having surgery, he or she will most likely be
asleep under general anesthesia during the procedure. There will
be a recovery period afterward, during which your child will probably
feel tired. The area where the surgery was done will also feel sore
and tender. It may take several days or weeks after the surgery
for your child to feel well enough to go back to school.
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