In the United States, cancer is the second most common cause of death among young children between the ages of 1 and 14. More thsn 16 out of every 100,000 children and teens in the U. S. were diagnosed with cancer, and nearly 3 of every 100,00 died from the disease. In 2005, 4. 1 of every 100,000 young people under 20 years of age in the U. S. were diagnoised with leukemia, and 0. 8 per 100,000 died from it. In 2005 2. 9 of every 100,000 people 0-19 years of age were found to have cancer of the brain or central nervous system, and 0.
7 per 100,000 died from it. These cancer were found most often in children between 1 and 4 of age, but the most deaths occured among those aged 5-9. Alijah’s Story: Surviving Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) Alijah was a two year old who was diagnoised with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). Acute lymphocytic Leukemia is a form of leukemia, or cancer of the white blood cells characterized by excess lymphoblasts. Alijah’s parents Kyle and Jamekka noticed that something was wrong with there child when he suddenly stopped walking.
Jamekka stated that “Alijah would go for four or five days crawling with his foot up in the air like it was hurting. Then he’d walk for a few days then go back to crawling. Sometimes his right ankle hurt, sometimes his left, sometimes it was his wrist. We thought something might have happened at daycare…” But that turned out not to be so. Alijah’s condition was fatal but ALL is now treatable and more then 80 percent of children were cured. Luke and Molly’s Story: Surviving Myelodysplastic Syndrome Imagine facing the devastating diagnosis that your child has a rare condition that is fatal if left untreated…. twice.
Parents Julie and Brandon faced twice the heartache when both of their children, Luke and Molly, were diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Luke was less than a year when he was diveloped a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. “Doctors suspected an immune deficiency disorder” says Julie after many test and a bone marrow biopsy, Luke was diagnosed with MDS in March 2006. Luke’s sister Molly was 2-years old when she was diagnosed with MDS in May 2010. Like Luke, Molly had chemotherapy and a single cord blood transplant, but she also received radiation because she was older at the time of diagnosis.
Having two children with MDS has been a challenge, but Julie and Brandon have drawn upon family and learned. Jack’s story: Surviving a Brain Tumor At about 3 months old Jack started sleeping more and randomly vomiting. After several trips to the doctor, Jack’s parents Bre and Tony were told he had a stomach virus and it would work itself out. Knowing something wasn’t right and trusting their gut feeling that had been lingering for a couple weeks, Bre and Tony took him to the Emergency Room, where after an MRI he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. They were devastated, to say the least, and their world had been forever changed.
Gabrielle’s Story: Surviving Sarcomas “Life came to a sudden halt when Gabrielle was diagnosed with osteosarcoma,” says Gabrielle’s mother, Tami. Gabrielle was only six-years-old when she began to limp, for someone with Gabrielle’s passion for physical activities and sports, this limp was very out of the ordinary. When Gabrielle was taken to the hospitial doctors diagnosed her condition as Osteosarcoma which is a malignant bone tumor that usually develops in adolescents. Gabrielle’s struggle was not easy but this brave girl continutes to fight everyday and never give up.