Childhood Cancer Patients May Face a Shorter Life Expectancy Than Their Peers

In saving their lives as children, various causes such as secondary cancers, long-term damage to internal organs, and even suicide may contribute to an average 4-17 year life expectancy difference among childhood cancer survivors from the general population .

This article is difficult for me to write because I know how important it is. As I have made clear in practically every health related article, I am a childhood cancer survivor who has also experienced a secondary diagnosis only two years ago. Logic told me before reading these articles our lives will be shorter than the average person. The toxins ingested during chemotherapy leave effects that cause damage and not all damage can be repaired.

Nowadays treatments have changed. The most toxic agents are centered more on the organs in need of the treatment. The risk of a limited life span applies mostly to those treated during the 1970s and 1980s before they began targeting treatment more precisely.

Life expectancy among childhood cancer survivors varies based on type of cancer. As an example, kidney cancer survivors die on average four years earlier than those in the general population. Brain and bone tumor survivors lose their lives as long as 18 years before the general population.

I do not want to place this here but it is relevant. When I was released from St. Jude hospital, I was told by the nurse practitioner that most patients did not have medical coverage at the time of release. As a result many went bankrupt within five years due to medical problems. I state this here as it leads into the next portion of my article. Childhood cancer survivors often do not receive the help they need and some contemplate suicide.

Coming from my own experience, I can see how childhood cancer survivors may contemplate suicide. Many people who have not personally experienced cancer believe the problem is over once the illness is gone. While the hospital where I was a patient at did offer psychiatric services, I thought I was too tough to take them. I faced suicidal thoughts and depression from the age of 12. When I returned to school following treatments, the children were not nice. A series of events caused me to hold in there but in college, I continued to have isolated incidents of suicidal thoughts.

Do not judge me by what I am saying. I realize to fight so hard to live and then kill myself would have been pointless, tragic, and ignorant. At the time, I saw it as my only way. Medical complications continued to arise. I lost two fiancées who were afraid they would be unable to pay my medical bills. I felt like a freak the world did not want or need. The depression became worse when my daughter was a baby due to post-partum issues and fear of losing my husband. Finally, I entered treatment in 2005 and no longer have any desire to kill myself. I want to live to be 100 years old, but if circumstances had not happened as they did, I could have been one who killed myself.

A Childhood Cancer Survivor Study performed by questionnaire on childhood cancer survivors and their siblings throughout the United States and Canada revealed the survivor was 79 percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts than their siblings. The strongest correlation was the severity of physical health problems with thoughts of suicide.

Medical providers should be aware of the emotional well-being in those who are being treated for chronic problems just as mental health providers should be aware the medical conditions may be causing the depressive attacks and suicidal behavior.

The Dana-Farber's Perini Cancer Survivors' Center performed a questionnaire type study. Eighteen years following treatment, 13 percent of respondents admitting to having suicidal thoughts. Four percent of this same group attempted suicide. In the general population, three percent of people have thoughts of taking their own lives and .6 actually attempts it. Those involved in this study had long term medical problems as well.

For cancer patients, the younger they were at diagnosis time and the more time that had elapsed since the questionnaire showed a higher risk of suicidal thoughts. Perhaps these children are more at risk because of the toxicity of chemotherapy. Young children cannot grasp the concept of what cancer is either. The confusion of not understanding what is happening to these children could present many problems. Almost every child I knew was told what a "big girl" or "big boy" he was for being brave with treatment. Perhaps these children learned to repress their emotions turning their emotions inside of themselves as a lot of depressed people do. The only certain thing is much is needed in further regard to this study.

Personal experience childhood cancer @9, childhood cancer @15, depression, suicidal ideation cited as well