Eurocanplus  

Cancer can affect us all, young and old, smokers and non smokers, strong and weak, sadly no one is immune.   Cancer affects the cells of the body which under normal (non cancer) circumstances are all tightly controlled in respect to growth, lifespan and the way they interact and reacts to other cells.  When affected by cancer these normal functions fail and cells grow unregulated, develop into abnormal shapes, destroy neighbour cells and ultimately metastasize (spread) into tissue and organs.

Sadly as this process occurs, the cancer destroys organs and bones, weakens the body’s immune system, and erodes strength.

The sadly common childhood cancers are Leukaemia (blood), Lymphoma (cancer originating in lymphatic tissue) brain cancer and as children mature into their teenage years, osteosarcoma (bone).

Treatments for child cancers are not dissimilar to those for adults and fall under three main categories: Radiation, Surgery and Chemotherapy.  The treatment subscribed will depend predominantly upon the severity and type of cancer as well as the age of the child.

It is hard to cope with cancer for anyone let alone a child, but with 70%+ success rates of a cure, all is not lost.  Once a child has been diagnosed they will be referred to a paediatric oncologist (child cancer specialist).  The treatment schedule will be decided upon and then followed.  There can be short and long term treatment strategies, but once the treatments take affect marked improvements are possible within a matter of months.

Once a child is over the worst of the disease, many oncologists advise trying to resume some form of everyday life, like taking your child to a playground and allowing them to run about (providing it has adequate playground surfaces) enabling the child to overcome the mental experience of what they have endured.  Hopefully this strategy will help the child to overcome the disease and in time develop a life just like everybody else.