The onset of these cognitive and physical side effects found in some survivors of ALL would often cause children and adolescents to develop a number of psychological problems ranging from mood swings and emotional and behavioral withdrawal to depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD (Buehner 1-2; The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 3).
Children and adolescents who have undergone treatment and have survived ALL would need to undergo a period of adjustment in order to cope with the long-term side effects brought about by the treatment used in curing ALL. Apart from discussing with the child’s physician with regards to various therapy programs that the child would need in order to cope with these long-term side effects, parents and the child’s physician would need to inform the school about the condition of the child prior to his or her return to school.
This is needed in order to take the necessary steps needed in order to ensure that the child would be able to cope with the academic workload he or she would need to face amidst the long-term side effects that he or she acquired resulting from the treatment of ALL (The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 4). It should be noted that patients who have been diagnosed and treated for ALL and other forms of leukemia and cancer that are susceptible to psychological side effects.
The news of a family member being diagnosed with ALL or any other form of cancer has been known to have a direct effect on the patient’s family members as well. This is because the news that a family member has been diagnosed with ALL or any other type of cancer has been classified by behavioral scientists and psychologists as a traumatic event not just for the patient, but also the family members due to the fact that not only the use brings about a life-altering event on the part of the family members and the patient.
The life-altering events that accompany the news of a family member being diagnosed with ALL or any other form of cancer extends throughout the period of the treatment period since the changes brought about by the treatment period and caring for a patient diagnosed with ALL affects the daily functioning and lifestyle of the family (Buehner 1). In the case of ALL, parents are often the ones who would have to cope with the traumatizing event of discovering that their child has been diagnosed with this particular form of cancer.
This is because of the fact that ALL is a type of cancer that commonly inflicts children. Parents are commonly faced with a number of different physical disruptions that occur almost immediately after the discovery of the condition of their child. Parents of many children and adolescents who have been diagnosed with ALL usually fall ill within the first few weeks after learning of the diagnosis because these parents have been found to be found to have the inability to eat and sleep (Keene).