In my life I have known personally two children diagnosed will ALL - Acute Lymphocytic Lymphoma. This is the most common form of childhood leukemia.
Until a good friend of ours came down with leukemia I had always been under the impression that leukemia was easily curable. How wrong I was! Depending, of course, on the type of leukemia some children will have a better chance than others. I have to admit that I tend to be a very optimistic person. I always believed that Eric would come home one day and everything would be back to normal. He never did. Eric died only four months after being diagnosed. I have never taken life for granted since that time. Eric fell into an age group for which it is more difficult to recover from this type of leukemia. ALL is the most common type of leukemia among children.
When a young child in my class was having a difficult time getting over a year of colds and ear infections, his mother told me that they wanted to test his blood cell count. I couldn't say then that I knew what they were looking for. It still did not lessen the shock when his doctor (at the request of his mother) called to tell me the diagnosis. Thank G-d this child has been strong and is apparently overcoming this disease. Again, the frailty of life brings us down to earth and shocks us into hard reality.
Leukemia is a cancer of the blood. The blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen to all parts of the body and the white blood cells are responsible for fighting infection. Leukemia is when the white cells grow more rapidly than they are supposed to. They then crowd out the red blood cells and platelets. The crowding out causes pain in the extremities. There are many types of leukemia, each with its own set of unique characteristics.
There is no known cause of leukemia, however, there is some very interesting research pointing to a genetic link to certain leukemias. This "genetic link" does not always mean that a person WILL get the disease, but that they are at more risk of it. There, as well, is no guarantee that we can "protect" ourselves or our children from such things. However, I personally feel that it is important to be an informed and aware consumer. Our environment is not what it used to be and our food is not what it used to be. Be aware of the "impurities" such as man made chemicals that we surround ourselves with to make our lives "easier." An example is the preservatives in various foods. Perhaps limiting our contact with these things can make a difference.
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