Leukemia Treatment in India: at Discounted Cost for International Patients

My little girl had Leukemia. First, a description from faqs.org: Leukemia is caused by the overproduction of white blood cells. This has two effects on the body. First, the white blood cells may not mature properly as they develop. They may lack the ability to kill foreign bodies in the bloodstream. This defect seriously damages the immune system and the body loses its ability to fight off infections.

Second, so many white blood cells may form that they pack the bone marrow until there is not enough room for red blood cells and platelets to develop. Without red blood cells, the body's cells do not get enough oxygen, and the condition known as anemia develops. Anemia is characterized by general weakness, headache, pale skin, and dizziness. It can become a life-threatening disorder. Without platelets, blood cannot clot properly and simple injuries can lead to serious blood loss.

My daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia (specifically, Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia) when she was 6 years old.
Her symptoms were: lowgrade fever x 2 months, severe nosebleeds, bruising easily (like just from touching her arm), extreme fatigue and anemia.
They diagnosed her via a blood test – a "CBC with Manual Differential" which showed "BLASTS" in her bloodstream (the immature cells explained above). They then proceeded with a bone marrow biopsy, which both confirms the diagnosis, and tells them which kind of Leukemia they are dealing with. (There are different kinds: acute & chronic, & whether it affects granulocytes, lymphocytes, or monocytes cells.)
They then put together a chemotherapy regimen for that specific type of Leukemia. There are 3 phases, the first is the "Induction" phase in which they try to kill all the leukemia cells in the bloodstream. This phase usually lasts a month. They do blood tests and once no more leukemia cells show up in the blood, they have achieved "remission" and they proceed to phase 2, the "intensive" phase. This phase is to irradicate the leukemia cells still in the bone marrow and brain/spinal fluid. She received chemotherapy every other week, for 3 days in a row, for 6 months, via IV. She also received regular spinal taps, and injections of chemotherapy directly into the spinal fluid, (because cancer cells can hide out in the brain tissue, and the brain has natural barriers that prevent the IV chemo from entering the brain via the bloodstream.)

After 6 months, the spinal fluid is tested again, and another bone marrow aspiration is done. If no leukemia cells are found, they proceed into the 3rd Phase "Maintenance". In maintenance, they receive outpatient, lower doses of chemo by both injection and pill. This goes on for 2 years. Spinal taps and bone marrow aspirations are done regularly to make sure the leukemia cells aren't multiplying again. If they are found, they stop "maintenance" and begin all over again.

My daughter went through all three phases without a recurrence, and after that, she had to see the oncologist every other week for a blood test. After a month, we went every other week, then every month, then every 3 months for a year, and then every 6 months for another year, and then yearly until she reached age 19.

Throughout her treatment, she also received phsychological testing and we answered survey after survery about her milestones (did she get her period on time, how did it affect her learning/schoolwork, how did it affect her mentally?). These surveys help to pinpoint possible problems with chemo effects, which I am happy to say she had no long-term affects.

She is doing well and is 23 years old now.

I hope this helps!

The best way to find information for leukemia is by doing a google search. Here is a specific page on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website which explains leukemia and the various types:
http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=7026

My niece was diagnosed with high risk pre b A.L.L. (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) at the age of 2. She has the 'good type' of leukemia if there is such a thing. Her treatment plan consisted of 2 1/2 to 3 years of chemo,steroids and an option for radiation to the brain. The treatment plans vary greatly depending on the type and subtype of leukemia, the risk factor and individual patient circumstances. It was really rough for her the first 1 1/2 years of treatment but she is doing really well now. She was admitted to the hospital for various complications including infections, pneumonia and kidney stones. She is on 'maintenance chemo' now which is much easier on her body and she is doing great and hasn't been admitted to the hospital for a number of months. Pretty soon she will be done with chemo

the main cause of leukemia is still unknown, but there are many predisposing factors or risk factors such as Over exposure to radiation
benzene
Alkylating agent
Viruses
Genetic abnormalities (downs syndrome, albinism, congenital immunodeficiency syndrome)
Chemotherapeutic agents for other forms of cancer
therefore,,anemia is not the cause of leukemia

Most patients with leukemia die of infection, because the excess white cells do not do what they are supposed to do, fight infection. I don't know about the red cells being abnormal, it is the white cells that grow to large numbers but they are ineffective in killing germs.

Leukemia patients are very prone to bleeding and bruising, and like I say infections. There can be various reasons for death, it is something like patients with AIDS (of course not contracted the same way), but the body just can not fight off infections, very minor infections can become life threatening. Also patients can have strokes because their can be bleeding into the brain among other things.

Depends whether your character is a child or adult. There are many different types of leukemia, not just 4 by the way.

The most common type in childhood is Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and this is probably the most easily treatable so if you want your character to live this might be the best bet. However acute leukemias progress much more quickly than chronic types, so if you want a good delay before symptoms appear and treatment is sought then you might want to go with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. The problem though is that CLL and CML affect mainly adults, it is quite rare in children so may appear less believable if your character is a child.

If your main character is an adult then the chronic leukemias are the most common, Chronic Myelocytic Leukemia and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia for example. There can often be delays in recognising symptoms and seeking treatment, and this disease may go on for years but often it changes into an acute leukemia and the patient suddenly declines and often dies.

Symptoms are many and varied but may include night sweats, fatigue, recurrent infections, headache, easy bruising, joint pains, swollen lymph nodes, unexpected weight loss and swelling of the abdomen from an enlarged spleen.

There's so much information, but I hope that helps. You can google these diseases yourself to find out more info.

Good luck with your story.

The only way to be sure is to take him to the vet. However feline leukemia is a pretty nasty virus, and it could well be causing his problems. I've been told by my vet that it's much more likely to cause problems for cats under 2 as well, because they don't have mature immune systems, so him being young is a factor.

I hope things turn out well, but I think you should prepare for some difficult decisions. I certainly hope you will have him for a long time yet, but if it is the FeLV, then don't 'do everything' just for the sake of 'doing everything'. Some cats cope well with a lot of treatment, some don't. Make decisions based on whether YOUR CAT wil have a good quality of life (and remember he won't have a good quality of life if you are not…). Do your best for him, including taking the hardest decision when the time comes. Ask the vet lots of questions.

Im sorry to hear about your cousin. Im sure you and yours will cherish memories of him on the first anniversary of his passing. I posted this comment twice on the tube but never saw it..Hopefully this one will go through.

One more interesting thing I must add about all cancers including leukemia,is that they begin as a mutation in the genetic material-(deoxyribonucleic acid within certain cells.The external or internal causes of such change probably accumulates over a period of time,which leads me to think that leukemia is more prone to be genetically inherited than its fellow comrades.If indeed that’s the case then we need to look at the familly history rather than a specific preventable cause.

Anemia is not the cause of leukemia.Anemia is a iron deffeincy that can be corrected by taking a muti vitamin with iron or procrit injections a medication prescribed by a physcian to raise the hemoglobin levels.Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells that are not forming properly. Leukemia causes I think,are genetic inheritance or a genetic malfunction of the bood,extreme levels of radiation, benzene absorption,and certain poisons in the bloodstream left unattended,such as led.