Neve Cawley is a young child, a child who shouldn’t know what cancer is. She shouldn’t have tp
know what the pain of childhood Leukemia feels like. She shouldn’t have to go through the stress and
hardships of cancer treatment. But, sadly Neve does know and is battling childhood leukemia. Childhood
Leukemia affects 2,200 young Americans every year (kidshealth.org). The chances of survival are decent,
with the right medical group and treatment plan.
Leukemia is a cancer of your white blood cells. In this disease, bone marrow creates abnormal
white blood cells that rapidly grow and overcrowd the healthy blood cells. These mutated cells crowd
the bone marrow and blood stream, so the body can’t properly protect against disease. This causes
anemia, a low number of red blood cells, and bleeding problems plus increased risk of infection. There
are two types of leukemia, chronic and acute. Acute, or fast growing, accounts for 98% of leukemia
cases in children. Chronic leukemia is slow growing and spreading.
Childhood Leukemia begins like in any other cancer, in your cells. Like stated before, abnormal
white blood cells are created that grow and divide rapidly. These mutated cells overcrowd the healthy
cells and begin to cause problems. With leukemia, the abnormal cells are already in the bloodstream,
allowing them to travel to other parts in the body, causing even more problems. Although we know how
leukemia begins, it is not known what causes it. Some suggest environmental or genetic conditions that
can cause these cell abnormalities. Major risk factors include having had chemotherapy or radiation
previously, having a genetic disorder, or having a family member with leukemia.
There is a wide variety of symptoms for leukemia. The most common include fatigue, easy
bleeding or bruising, extreme tiredness or weakness, caused by the blood cells not being able to flow
properly to the brain, and trouble breathing or coughing. Other symptoms include swelling of the
abdomen, weight loss or loss of appetite, and swollen lymph nodes. Swollen lymph nodes are noticeable
on sides of the neck, groin, underarm area, or above the collarbone found by MRI or CT scans. Swelling
and discoloration of the head, arms, and upper chest could occur, because of a “backed-up” vein caused
by leukemia cells overcrowding. Also, if leukemia cells spread in the central nervous center, headaches,
seizures, or vomiting may take place.
Leukemia is a very curable form of cancer, if the right treatment plan is chosen. The most
common form of treatment for childhood leukemia is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the use of drugs
to stop or slow the cancerous cells development. However, chemotherapy can also harm healthy cells
that quickly divide, for example the cells that line your intestines, mouth, and the cells that cause hair
growth. Another common treatment for leukemia is a bone marrow transplant. In this transplant, the
donor, usually a family member gives healthy bone marrow to be replaced with the bad bone marrow in
the patient’s body. The two forms of a bone marrow transplant are autologous and allogeneic.
Autologous is a bone marrow transplant that actually comes within the same patient. Allogeneic is a
transplant for a donor other than the patient or an identical twin.
Neve Cawley is now cancer free, but not worry free. She is monitored by constant blood tests,
scared of relapse. If you ask any leukemia patient, they will tell you of a “five year countdown”. Having
gone chemotherapy and other treatments, the chances of relapse are high for the first five years.
Although leukemia cannot be prevented, early detection, as always, is key.