Cancer is a critical disease that afflicts people of all age group. It is really hard to accept no matter which age group you belong to, but for children, the situation is extremely traumatic. Cancer occurs when a particular body cell shows an uncontrollable growth that body cannot regulate. As cancer cells grow, they engulf more and more body nutrition leading to depletion of inner strength, organ destruction and deterioration of body defenses against common ailments.
Some major types of child cancers- leukemia, brain cancer, neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma & Ewing’s Sarcoma (bone cancer) and Lymphoma. If statistics are anything to be believed, around 8% people die every year due to cancer and children aged between 15to 19 years have the highest death rate. In this blog post, I will dish put information about physical and psychological consequences that occurs in children suffering from cancer.
Physical Effects
There are innumerable physical consequences that may arise as a result of cancer and relating treatments. Treatments such as radiation therapy, BMT, chemotherapy and surgeries have different effects on children depending upon the method being applied.
Sexual Dysfunction & Infertility
Children’s who undergo BMT may experience problems with sexual maturity and fertility. The situation can take place with both male and female.
Chronic Pain
Children’s tend to suffer from consistent and chronic pain by cancer itself or certain treatments.
Nausea and Vomiting
These are among the most common side effects and most kids suffering from cancer disease are bound to have nausea and vomiting. However, there are medicines that can control these side effects.
Hair Loss
It is a very common symptom that takes place during chemotherapy. Hair follicles are the fastest growing cells in the body and chemotherapy happens to destroy hair cells while working against cancer cells.
Ostomies
It is a surgical opening made in the body, with a tube connecting to a bag. It allows waste products to leave from the intestines and bladder.
Fatigue
Patients suffering from cancer feel more fatigue even extreme than the feeling we normally have.
Osteoporosis
It is a condition wherein your bones become very weak and fragile. In such condition, cancer patients are more prone to fractures and bone-breaking.
Anemia
It is a condition where red blood cells decrease in number, lower than the normal range. Red blood cells disseminate oxygen in the body and their lower quantity incurs feeling of weakness & tiredness and cause breathing problems.
Psychosocial Effects
Unnecessary change in physical appearance will certainly have psychosocial implications on teens undergoing cancer treatments. So what are the psychosocial aftereffects of cancer treatments? Here they are
Depression
Around 25% of the cancer patients suffer from depression. It can be characterized by disinterest in activities, feeling of worthlessness, loss of appetite and suicide thoughts. Anti-depressants and cognitive behavioral therapy are generally used for dealing with depression in patients.
Low Confidence
Due to changes in physical appearance caused by cancer patients, it often results in loss of self- confidence and self-esteem.
Educational Implications
Children with cancer are likely to have low strength, vitality and attentiveness due to chronic health problems which adversely affects the academic performance. In such cases, students become eligible for special educational programs. It is reported that children’s suffering from leukemia miss 10 to 20 weeks in a year during school program and often repeat their academic session.