Signs and Symptoms of Childhood Leukemia, week of 2/4
Hello everyone,
This week has been a rough one in the PICU. I took care of the sweetest 12-year old boy. It was his third relapse of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and his family was shocked. After running through all the tests, it was apparent that he had probably been in relapse for the past few months with absolutely no signs and symptoms. Now, this mom is a mom well-versed in cancer symptoms and taking care of a child battling ALL, and she still couldn't see the signs. So how are the rest of us supposed to? Here a few common, albeit vague, signs and symptoms of leukemia, the number one cancer in children, to keep an eye out for in your babies at home.
--> Weakness, tiredness, more lethargic than usual. If your child normally is leaping into the car after school and then runs all over the house like crazy is all of the sudden falling into the car and barely making it to the front door, that may be a cause for concern.
--> Frequent, recurrent infections which can range from frequent colds to frequent skin infections in those little scraped knees. This is due to a lower than normal number of white blood cells that makes it much more difficult to fight off infections
--> Fever, malaise, and sweats. All of the sudden it seems like your kiddo has had the flu for weeks and it just won't budge.
--> Anemia. Maybe you have already gone to the doctor for the lethargy and your child has been diagnosed with anemia. You may have been told its due to a deficiency of iron in their diet. but it may be due to a lack of blood cells altogether due to the leukemia. If the iron supplements aren't working and more than one of these other symptoms are present, maybe its time for another trip to the doctor for more blood work.
--> Purpura. Small tiny spots of bruising all over the bodies. These aren't just because kids are kids. these could be due to a lack of platelets
--> Easy, frequent, and severe bruising. This also isn't just because kids are being kids all of the time, sometimes there is a much deeper cause.
Other symptoms of other possible childhood cancers include frequent broken bones and consistently swollen lymph nodes.
*PSA: this is not to panic you about your child's well-being. Most of the time, 1 or more of these symptoms can be explained by other causes. But if your mommy-gut is tingling, please go get your baby tested. You always know if something is wrong, so go trust that gut.
For more information, there are an incredible amount of resources online including:
http://www.leukaemiacare.org.uk/leukaemia
https://www.lls.org/leukemia/chronic-lymphocytic-leukemia/signs-and-symptoms
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/acute-lymphocytic-leukemia/detection-diagnosis-staging/signs-symptoms.html
This week has been a rough one in the PICU. I took care of the sweetest 12-year old boy. It was his third relapse of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and his family was shocked. After running through all the tests, it was apparent that he had probably been in relapse for the past few months with absolutely no signs and symptoms. Now, this mom is a mom well-versed in cancer symptoms and taking care of a child battling ALL, and she still couldn't see the signs. So how are the rest of us supposed to? Here a few common, albeit vague, signs and symptoms of leukemia, the number one cancer in children, to keep an eye out for in your babies at home.
--> Weakness, tiredness, more lethargic than usual. If your child normally is leaping into the car after school and then runs all over the house like crazy is all of the sudden falling into the car and barely making it to the front door, that may be a cause for concern.
--> Frequent, recurrent infections which can range from frequent colds to frequent skin infections in those little scraped knees. This is due to a lower than normal number of white blood cells that makes it much more difficult to fight off infections
--> Fever, malaise, and sweats. All of the sudden it seems like your kiddo has had the flu for weeks and it just won't budge.
--> Anemia. Maybe you have already gone to the doctor for the lethargy and your child has been diagnosed with anemia. You may have been told its due to a deficiency of iron in their diet. but it may be due to a lack of blood cells altogether due to the leukemia. If the iron supplements aren't working and more than one of these other symptoms are present, maybe its time for another trip to the doctor for more blood work.
--> Purpura. Small tiny spots of bruising all over the bodies. These aren't just because kids are kids. these could be due to a lack of platelets
--> Easy, frequent, and severe bruising. This also isn't just because kids are being kids all of the time, sometimes there is a much deeper cause.
Other symptoms of other possible childhood cancers include frequent broken bones and consistently swollen lymph nodes.
*PSA: this is not to panic you about your child's well-being. Most of the time, 1 or more of these symptoms can be explained by other causes. But if your mommy-gut is tingling, please go get your baby tested. You always know if something is wrong, so go trust that gut.
For more information, there are an incredible amount of resources online including:
http://www.leukaemiacare.org.uk/leukaemia
https://www.lls.org/leukemia/chronic-lymphocytic-leukemia/signs-and-symptoms
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/acute-lymphocytic-leukemia/detection-diagnosis-staging/signs-symptoms.html
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