Understanding Childhood Cancer
- Reality TV star Deavan Clegg, 25, recently announced that her 3-year-old son was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
- Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, is a type of leukemia where the bone marrow makes too many immature lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. It is an aggressive cancer and requires aggressive treatment.
- Treatment advances in recent decades have lead to 84 percent of children with cancer now surviving five years or more, according to the American Cancer Society. But there is still much room for improvement. The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation says more than 95 percent of childhood cancer survivors have significant health-related issues because of the current treatment options, and only 4 percent of the billions of dollars spent each year on cancer research and treatments are directed towards treating childhood cancer in the United States.
Clegg’s 3-year-old son with her reality star ex Jihoon Lee, 28, named Taeyang was recently diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. But the diagnosis only came after a lengthy process of trying to figure out what was wrong.
Read More“One month after Taeyang’s first trip to the Emergency Room, he was back to test his blood count; it had dropped even more, and was at a dangerous level,” the GoFundMe reads. “A specialist was needed. Taeyang’s mom took him to the specialist and thought he would need a blood transfusion the next day.
“Instead, with the lab work in hand, the doctor returned to the hospital room with a diagnosis that no parent wants to hear: ‘Your son has cancer cells.'”
Deavan Clegg’s Announcement
Clegg, who is also the mother of her 6-year-old daughter Drascilla and currently pregnant with her third baby her first with boyfriend, Instagram star Topher Park, 32, recently shared the news of Taeyang’s diagnosis with her followers on social media.
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“I have vowed to always be 100% transparent with you guys and I am choosing to share the most vulnerable and saddest point of my life right now in hopes it can help give anyone else dealing with a similar situation some strength,” she wrote in an Instagram caption. “I’m overcome with so much emotion and devastation to announce that my beloved son Taeyang who just celebrated his third birthday last month was just diagnosed with childhood cancer, b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia just a few days ago.”
She continued by saying that he had already begun chemotherapy treatments.
“This is every parents absolute worst nightmare and I’m trying hard to stay strong for Taeyang, Drascilla and my baby in my tummy,” she wrote. “Taeyang will need around the clock hospital care and this will be a long two year process that has a high success rate of full recovery in five years. I’m still processing all of this and asking for prayers, please.”
Now, Clegg’s asking for financial help as little Taeyang continues on his long journey to recovery.
“If anyone would like to donate to assist with his medical care, I would be forever grateful as this nightmare has been completely unexpected,” she wrote. “Also if anyone knows of any childhood cancer support groups and resources please tag them below. I’m so beside myself right now and my heart is broken.”
Understanding Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, is a type of leukemia where the bone marrow makes too many immature lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. It is also called acute lymphocytic leukemia.
The American Cancer Society estimates that about 6,660 new cases of ALL will be diagnosed in the United States in 2022. The ACS also reports that the risk for developing ALL is highest in children younger than 5 years of age, with a slow decline in risk until the mid-20s. Then, the risk slowly rises again after age 50.
What Is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)?
Dr. Olalekan Oluwole, a hematologist with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, previously talked with SurvivorNet about ALL's effect on the body and the type of treatments that work to fight it.
"ALL is a type of cancer that is very aggressive," Dr. Oluwole told SurvivorNet. "It grows very fast. Within a few weeks, a few months, the person will start to feel very sick. And that's why we will have to give it an equally aggressive type of treatment to break that cycle."
All About Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Answers to the Most Common Questions About the Disease
Dr. Oluwole also says the leukemia often resides in the bone marrow, and because it is an abnormal growth, it just keeps dividing.
"It doesn't follow rules, and it doesn't stop," he told SurvivorNet. "Not only that, because this is part of the immune system, the immune system is sorta like the police of the body. So those abnormal cells that have now become cancer, they have the ability to go to many places. They go into the blood, and they often go into the tissue or the lining around the brain."
Understanding Childhood Cancer
Treatment advances in recent decades have lead to 84 percent of children with cancer now surviving five years or more, according to the American Cancer Society. This is up from 58 percent from the mid-1970s.
But according to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, more than 95 percent of childhood cancer survivors have significant health-related issues because of the current treatment options, and only 4 percent of the billions of dollars spent each year on cancer research and treatments are directed towards treating childhood cancer in the United States. Since 1980, fewer than 10 drugs have been developed for use in children with cancer while hundreds of drugs have been created exclusively for adults.
Dr. Elizabeth Raetz, director of pediatric hematology and oncology at NYU Langone's Perlmutter Cancer Center, reminded us in a previous interview that there is still reason for hope.
"There are also targeted treatments and different immunotherapies that have been studied in adults and have now moved into clinical trials for children and there has been a great deal of excitement in the community about that," Dr. Raetz told SurvivorNet.
Still, navigating a child's cancer diagnosis can be tricky.
The Impact of a Childhood Cancer Diagnosis on the Whole Family Jayne Wexler Shares Her Story
Jayne Wexler's son battled acute lymphoblastic leukemia and now deals with heart disease as a side effect of chemotherapy. In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Wexler explained that in addition to regular parent worries having a child with cancer means living with a whole new world of anxieties.
"My husband and I will always have fear," she said. "I don't think we can ever let go of that. Just when he was OK, then he relapsed, and then he had the bone marrow transplant … so there's always some sort of worry."
Wexler admits she tries to live for each and every day, but its understandable that this does not always come easy.
"And I do try you hear people say this we do have to live each day and be thankful for what we have," Wexler said. "And it's hard to remember that when you're caught up … it's very hard to just sort of enjoy the moment, because we just don't know what's going to happen in the future."
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