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DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENTS

Diagnosis
Treatments

Diagnosis
Many tests are available that doctors can use to determine whether or not a person has cancer, and what type of cancer it is. If a 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 help minimize misunderstandings about why the child is out of school if you understand some of the common diagnostic tests for childhood cancer.

• 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 a 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.
  
  
• 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 a child needs an imaging test, he or she will probably miss one whole day of school.
  
  

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• 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, a child might be asleep under general anesthesia during the surgery. If the child is awake, he or she will be given medicine so that the biopsy is not painful. Whether the child is asleep or awake during the biopsy, the biopsied area will probably feel sore and tender afterward. The child may miss more than 1 day of school to recover from the operation.

Treatments
There are four primary ways to treat childhood cancer. While a child is having cancer treatments, he or she will most likely miss many days of school. It can help to prepare for prolonged school absences if you understand how the treatments work. 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 a 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. This may be one of the hardest side effects for a child to cope with if he or she is going back to school. A child who has lost hair due to chemotherapy treatments may feel more comfortable wearing hats or scarves during this time. If this is against your school policy, consider talking to your principal about this particular case to see if you can modify the rules to help the child feel more at ease in school.
  
  

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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 right 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 can depend on where the child is being treated. Skin exposed to the high-energy rays can become easily irritated or darkened from exposure. As with chemotherapy, a child could lose his or her hair in the area being treated. Radiation treatments can also make a person feel very tired.
  

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• Surgery
  Doctors use surgery to remove cancer cells and tumors from the body. When a tumor is removed during surgery, doctors will also usually take out some of the tissue and lymph nodes surrounding the tumor. 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.
  
  A child having surgery will most likely be asleep under general anesthesia during the procedure. There will be a recovery period afterward, during which the 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 a child to feel well enough to go back to school.

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