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im 15 with cancer
I am 15, a girl, and I recently was diagnosed with cancer. I start chemo tomorow. I am going to loose all my hair and throw up a lot. I am very scared because I always thought I was healthy. My friends and family come to see me a lot but after a while I think they will forget about me and not come as often and not talk to me anymore. I was told I probably wont live much longer and Im soooo scared! Please help.
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Hey I'm a 17 year old boy and 2 weeks after my 15th Birthday. I was diagnosed with Aml leukemia ( cancer if the blood) and I had no idea I was sick. I was treated at A.I.Dupont Children's Hospital. I went through 1 round of chemo and didn't get in remission, then they did a second round of chemo and i did go in remission, then to keep me in remission they did super chemo and I went through loosing my hair, the throwing up and weight loss, and a whole bunch more, but I stayed positive and my family came up as much as they could, my mom was there everyday, and I talked to my other close relatives everyday on the phone. Trust me if they love you they would never forget about you and the survival rate has greatly increased for teens with cancer. I know it's a scary thing but as long as you believe your gonna make it you are, I think that sometimes the medicine helps but being positive and knowing your gonna make it helps you beat cancer to. I'm praying for you and hope this helps. I'm a 2 year cancer survivor and you will be to one day.
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Hi, I'm old enough to be you grandfather and I hope that the wisdom that comes with age will be helpful to you.
First, I'm sorry you are ill. When it comes to Cancer diagnoses doctors make them based on the evidence at hand. They really have no idea how you will respond to treatment. I have found that will illnesses such as yours recovery is 90% mindset and 10% medicine.
I know that sounds strange but even the doctors will tell you if you set your mind to beating this your chances of doing so go way up. Our bodies are wonderful things, they respond to what our minds tell them.
It also helps that you find the best doctors you can. Not knowing where you live I can't make a recommendation but if you live near a Cancer Center of America Hospital you should ask your parents to take you there.
There is also St. Jude Children's Hospital; no child is ever turned away regardless of the ability of their parents to pay. This hospital was founded by the actor Danny Thomas on that principal.
There are hundreds of stories where doctors have told patients that they had non-operable cancer. Then after chemo and or radiation there was no sign of the Cancer. They were in total remission. Your job is to keep the faith, have a positive attitude and know that you are not going to let some little bug defeat you.
Yes you will lose your hair, but it will grow back and think of all the lovely wigs you can get. To minimize throwing up instead of three big meals a day eat many small meals each day between chemo treatments. The doctors will also give you medicine to minimize the nausea.
I do not think your friends and family will forget about you. Friends and family know how important it is to keep your spirits up to help you beat this illness, so I'm sure they will be there for you. I remember reading a story where someone your age was going through what your going through. She was so concerned about loosing her hair that everyone in her class shaved their herds in solidarity with her. It made the newspapers that's why I remember it.
I'm not saying the doctors are wrong, what I am saying is the doctors can be proven wrong. How you approach your illness will effect how the illness effects you. Attitude is everything.
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Hi, I'm really sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I can imagine you must have so much swirling around in your head right now.
First, I bet you your friends and family won't forget about you. It does often happen that everyone suddenly comes around you and then once they figure you are doing alright, they start to get back to their normal routines. That is okay. But no one will forget you. Also if you need people, really tell them that you want them around! Often people don't know how to help, or can even think that you would want time by yourself, when that may be the last thing you want. People love helping other people, especially if they love you or are a great friend, but may just need to be told what to do, so they don't feel like they are getting in the way. Maybe say that you want visitors at a particular time of the day. Or say you are tired, but just want someone to sit with you while you sleep, or that you want someone to bring you all the food that you feel like eating, or someone to play a game with you. Your friends will probably be really grateful that you are still wanting to be their friend during this! They love you for your amazing personality, and even when you are feeling down or throwing up, they still love you!
Second. Being told that you won't live much longer sucks! They are not always right at all! I have a friend who was told he has the most agressive cancer and would die by last Christmas and he hasn't!
Don't sell your things or give them away just yet! If you do live longer than what they expect you will want those things to use, and would be bummed out that you didn't have them!
Also, are you a Christian? I had this thing when I was about 12 years old, where I died by drowning. The most amazing thing was, though I was freaking out when I was drowning, once I started breathing in and out the water, I realised that I wasn't dead! Sounds weird, but I ended up floating above the ground and watching the whole thing happening with people pumping the water out of me and doing CPR and my mum crying, and I was like "Wow, look at that. What they say is true. You don't die, just your body does!" I remember then thinking 'shouldn't I be seeing someone like God about now?' and then like the biggest magnet, I got sucked back into my body and woke up!
I wasn't a Christian at the time, and surprisingly, I didn't think about this much, or even become a Christian for years afterwards!
The reason I'm saying all this is because, even though your body dies, YOU don't die! You feel just the same, only no body.
You have a spirit and you need to figure out where it is going. Either up or down. To get to Heaven the Bible says that you have to believe that Jesus is the son of God, and ask him into your heart, and believe that he died so that you can go to Heaven.
(Long story short: Heaven is awesome clean perfect place. Everyone on earth sins, ie, does stuff wrong, even if it's a little white lie, or stealing a pen or something. It makes you not clean or perfect enough for Heaven. Jesus took all of our sins on to himself, then when he died on the cross our sins died too, so we are clean enough/perfect enough for Heaven. We should try not to sin, but we will always sin, so say sorry to God, keep trying not to and he keeps forgiving you and you still get to go to Heaven!
I really don't like the idea of Bible bashers, but I really believe this with all I have, and really care about where your spirit ends up!
Often through the hospital they have Chaplins who can answer questions for you without pressuring you or making you feel weird. They are a good sounding board, someone to listen to you as you cry or freak out, or just be someone to talk to about anything else apart from cancer and God, just for good company! They don't judge and you can be normal around them cos they are just normal people too :-)
I think loosing your hair may be hard, but could you turn it into something fun through your school by having a haircutting day, where people get their long hair cut and donate it to people who make wigs for cancer patients, and other people could raise money by getting people to pay a donation to them if they shave their head to support you, and the money could either go to you or to the Cancer Foundation or something? Sometimes making a big deal of stuff if a fun way helps you, but it also helps everyone around you because it brings it out into the light, and people get informed, and feel that talking about you and your cancer, and talking to you is okay.
If you just feel like chatting i would love to keep in contact with you through the questions thing on here. I hope you are okay. I would love to hear how things are going for you. Maybe you could start a blog to pass the time, but also as a record for you and your friends and your family.
God Bless you xx
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sweetie it is going to be hard, cancer is never pleasant nor cemo. But your friends and family will NEVER forget you or ever abandon you. i would be shocked if they ever let you out of there sight :)
i can understand you scared but your not alone. Face it head on and never stop fighting.Dont listen to what the doctors say about not having long to live.
They told my father he would never work/walk again, and guess what hes walking and building houses at the moment. Anything is possible!
remember to smile, and make the most of every minute . Dont let this defeat you.
if you want to talk or have ANY questions send me a message in my inbox :)
-gabiie
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