~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This message is from PedTalk! To reply to the group, use "" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Patty- I visited your web site. You are doing a beautiful job. I have to think about it a bit more to make any intelligent commonest though. I hope your son is doing well. Regards Kim Burlingham, MD ---------- > From: Patty <> > To: > Subject: childhood cancer > Date: Friday, October 24, 1997 2:51 PM > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > This message is from PedTalk! To reply to the group, use "" > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > All, > > I am a member of the Ped Onc listserve group, a group consisting mostly of > parents of children with cancer. (My own son has pre-B calla+ ALL, WBC 7200 > at dx, high risk because he was 16 yo at dx.) Through six months of > "talking" with these parents, the stories of the numerous late and > miss-diagnoses of their children's impressed me with the need for better > awareness of children's cancers, both on the part of the parents and on the > part of the pediatricians. > > So, I tried to remember why/how I knew that my own son's tiredness and > aches could be a sign of "some sort of serious blood problem", a knowledge > which prompted me to take him to the doctor. I couldn't remember, so I > searched my many childhood and health books. I could not find a concise > listing of "warning signs of childhood cancers". I asked the Ped Onc group, > spread out over most of the world: nothing. One member found an ACS booklet > on the signs of childhood cancer, but upon calling the ACS, found that it > was out of print. > > Therefore, I took it upon myself to write such a summary, with the help of > all the members of our listserve. I have put it on the Web for others to > review. Eventually, I will condense the 'signs' into a short list which we > are thinking of printing and asking politely if we could put them in > pediatricians offices, or even making a poster with these signs. > > Signs of Childhood Cancer: > http://orgchem.colorado.edu/patty/SOCC.html > > What do all of you think about this? Would there be a place for the Web > page (url above) available as a printed pamphlet? Is a poster a good idea? > Is a small card with only the signs a good idea? Are my sign and symptoms > as on the Web page correct from a medical standpoint? > > Our next goal may be to try to reach all pediatricians with our plea: > please, check our children for cancer so that it can be diagnosed early; > order the tests even though you think cancer is a remote possibility; > listen to us when we tell you something is not quite right with our child. > I know that most doctors are conscientious, but cancer is still relatively > rare, and they may not be looking for it. Also, I realize how hard it is > dealing with parents. Especially those that don't care, or don't pay > attention, or prefer to seek alternative medicines. How can we reach all > pediatricians with our pleas? > > And then there is the Health Insurance issue, will the insurance pay for > the tests? My own health insurance has directed me to many different > "primary" physicians over the past years, this means that my doctors don't > know me or my children well, and this means that the doctor may or may not > respect my opinions or my level of knowledge about my children's health. > > Thanks, > > Patty Feist, Coordinator for Organic Chemistry, Univ. Colorado, Boulder, > and mom to James, dx ALL 4/97. If you're interested in my personal page, go > to > > http://orgchem.colorado.edu/patty/jamesleuk.html > > or even > > http://orgchem.colorado.edu/ > > for a remembrance of your o-chem days :-) > > > > group.