What Is Leukemia?

Leukemia is cancer that mostly affects white blood cells. White blood cells fight infections. Bone marrow is a spongy material inside the bones that makes white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. With leukemia, the bone marrow makes white blood cells that don’t work. These abnormal cells can’t protect the body from germs. They crowd the bone marrow, enter the bloodstream, and can spread to other parts of the body, like the lymph nodes, brain, or liver.

What Is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia?

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) happens when the body makes too many of a white blood cell called a lymphocyte. This is the most common type of leukemia in children. ALL is also called acute lymphocytic leukemia and acute lymphoid leukemia. ALL can impact different types of lymphocytes called B-cells or T-cells. Doctors label the type of ALL based on which cells are altered. Most kids with ALL have the B-cell subtype. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia develops and gets worse quickly, so early diagnosis is important. Most kids are cured with treatment.

How Is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treated?

Most kids with ALL will get chemotherapy. These are special drugs that kill cancer cells. Which drugs a child gets and in what combination depends on the subtype of ALL and how fast-moving the disease is. How cancer cells respond to the first treatment helps doctors decide how to choose the next type of chemo.

Different types of chemo can be given:

– Into a vein through an IV
– As an injection into a muscle
– By mouth in pill form
– With a spinal tap right into the cerebrospinal fluid

My Experience

ALL has affected my life personally as well. A few weeks ago, my baby brother, Cameron, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He, along with my parents, was in the hospital for close to two weeks as Cameron was being checked out and treated. Cameron is only 2 years old. Meanwhile, my brother Julian, who is 3, and I were left at home. I’m not going to lie, suddenly taking care of a toddler is no easy task, but it was what had to be done while my parents were stuck in the hospital.

Cameron’s condition is slowly getting better, but chemotherapy makes him sick and weak. The steroids give him ‘roid rage, so he’s a mad little guy all the time. His legs hurt and are weak, so he cannot walk. With that said, he’s been recovering since he’s been home and the normal we used to know is starting to come back.