Question

Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia

A father brings in his 3-year-old son, James, who was initially running a fever. He was given Tylenol, and the fever went away for 2 days. Now, however, the fever is back, and he has noted dark spots on his body and a lump in his armpit. He has been lethargic and has not wanted to eat for the last 24 hours. The physician suspects acute lymphocytic leukemia and has ordered blood chemistry studies, immunophenotyping, and bone marrow aspiration and biopsy.

The father is upset and wants to know what is leukemia and how did his son catch it? How would the nurse address this question?

The nurse arranges to have laboratory tests drawn and schedules the immunophenotyping and bone marrow aspiration and biopsy. Discuss the importance of these tests.

Is there a possibility that leukemia has spread in the body?

What treatments are available for leukemia?

Answer 1

The nurse should answer this question to the father the way he can easily under stand and the normal language should be use, like this the nurse can answer, leukemia is a cancer that affect the bone marrow that is present inside the bone,the exact cause we cant said but some risk factors are there like radiation,exposure to certain chemicals etc,

The immunophenotyping is the the method that is used to identify the tumer marker in the cells that affect tumors and the diagnosis of leukemia, and in bone marrow aspiration biopsy we can collect the sample of the bone marrow and examine that and we can finalise the diagnosis if malignancy is there or not.

The luekemia can spred the later stages if not properly treated the organs like spinal cord,liver,spleen,testicles,and lymph nodes may be affect.

The main treatment regimen available for leukemia are, Stemcell therapy,biological therapy means immunotherapy,radiation therapy, targeted therapy like hormonal therapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy.

plz give a thums up.