Walking with a Shadow: Surviving Childhood Leukemia

By Nanci A. Sullivan

Childhood cancer, particularly leukemia, is on the rise. Leukemia strikes one child in every 25,000, and most often does so between the ages of 3 and 7. Annually, more than 2,700 children are diagnosed with leukemia in the United States. Due to advances in biotechnology and medicine, survival rates for this once-deadly disease now stand at 80%. But the psychological effects of diagnosis, removal from school, treatment, and remission or cure, linger. Here nine long-term survivors of childhood leukemia share their vivid memories and give us insight into the physiological changes, psychosocial and educational difficulties that became a constant shadow in their lives. Author Nanci Sullivan provides recommendations for ways teachers, counselors and other professionals may better help young students with leukemia cope.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0275958140
• ISBN13: 9780275958145
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Praeger
• Length: 286 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Life Follows Leukemia

As more and more children survive leukemia, parents, teachers and the medical profession will need to understand and be prepared for the aftermath of the disease. This very readable book, a result of qualitative research, covers 9 survivor stories with diagnosis dating from 1966-1985. Now adults, the survivors reflect on their memories of diagnosis, treatment and living with the consequences of therapy side effects. The author's aim is to illustrate the educational difficulties post treatment and the impact of school (or absence of school) during treatment and later years. Educators need to be added to the medical/parental team as a resource and strength in the child's progression of diagnosis to survival. It is always best to hear first hand from those who go through treatment to potentially make changes for the benefit of the patient. As a pediatric oncology nurse, I have seen the positive effects of the hopefulness and priority of education to hospitalized children. Child life therapy is another bonus offered in larger treatment centers. An additional plus to the book is the various comprehensive appendices regarding bibliotherapy (with age recommendations), video and internet sites for children, bereavement and resources for parents. A glossary of medical terms and explanations of blood tests (which become a new short hand language for families) aids the non-medical reader. Lastly, multiple listings of support organizations for families, financial assistance, transportation needs, clinical trial web sites and bone marrow information complete this terrific book. Any parent, educator (in the course of a 40 year career a teacher can expect to have an average of 4 students with cancer), psychologist, medical social worker, etc. will find this book useful.

A Must Read

When a child is sick with leukemia everyone's focus is on surviving. That is paramount. This book tells us what happens in the other areas of their lives once they do survive, and that becomes paramount. We should study the lives of these survivors to learn what we can to address these kids' needs more effectively. This book is filled with priceless insights that current kids who are surviving leukemia will wish we had studied with great commitment. I suspect that others with different chronic health issues may be able to identify with the struggles of those in this book.