Childhood Cancer

Childhood Cancer

Where should your child receive treatment?

After a tentative diagnosis of cancer, most physicians refer the family to the closest major children’s hospital for further tests and treatment. It is very important that the child with cancer be treated at a facility that uses a team approach, including pediatric oncologists, oncology nurses, specialized surgeons and pathologists, pediatric nurse practitioners, pediatric radiologists, psychologists, child life specialists, rehabilitation specialists, education specialists, and social workers. State-of-the-art treatment is provided at these institutions, offering your child the best chance for remission (disappearance of the disease in response to treatment) and ultimately, cure.

The day that I took Cassandra (age 5) to the pediatrician, I had assumed she would be sent home on antibiotics for some type of infection. She had been complaining of pain in her left knee and had developed a large lump on her left buttock. Instead, we left with instructions for her to eat nothing, since she was going to be sedated the following morning for some scans at the children’s hospital. From that point on, things happened very fast. I remember only bits and pieces of those first few days at the hospital. I was told that Cassandra had rhabdomyosarcoma, that the following day they would do a biopsy and implant a central catheter, and that chemotherapy would be started as soon as possible.