Dad just diagnosed with leukaemia

I just want to say that you must feel that your whole world has turned upside down in a single day. It is hard at this moment to give advice on Leukaemia without knowing the details, but I would suggest that as soon as you do know, the best place to go for info will be the Cancerbackup website. You will be able to access info about treatment, side-effects and if there are likely to be any significant problems with your Dad's age, although I can't see 65 debarring him from many treatments.

In general, it depends upon age of your children but most people on here have found that openness is best, as children can come to terms with what they are told about, but cannot if they are only left to surmise. I'm sure you will get lots of advice about this aspect.

At the moment, I would just mention Cancer MacMillan nurses being there for emotional support for you as well as your Dad. What sort of tests has he had so far, and what else are they doing before you get diagnosis? If you are the person going with him to get the resuts, I would suggest taking a notebook and jotting down any questions - also two heads better than one at absorbing a lot of information in a short time: again the Cancer MacMillan nurse, if there is one attached to the hospital, will be able to explain anything you feel you weren't sure about whilst the consultant is explaining things.

Just leaves room to do most important thing I can do which is to wish you all the very best in fighting this terrible blow, to reassure you that you have come to the right pace for emotional support, and to ask you to pass on my very very best wishes to your Dad. xxx Penny

Hello Emma,

My mum was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in early April. It was a real shock to all the family, it came from nowhere, she was a very healthy person.

I really know how hard it is, the first few days after you find out. It tore our family's world apart, you must feel the same. Though we're not in shock any more (it's been something like 10 weeks since we found out) as a family we are still all only muddling through and we all have our good days and bad days, we support each other as best we can.

It's possible that the leukaemia your dad has is curable, my mum's is treatable and curable with chemotherapy. So stay as positive as you can.

I can't really help you with how to tell children about it, we didn't have that problem. All I can suggest is maybe wait until the docs have provided more detail so the prognosis is clearer in your mind, might help you explain to the children.

I don't know if this is any help, please let me know if you want more specific advice, though I think there are lots of different leukaemias and treatments can vary.

Wishing you all the best,

Ros

I have just joined this site today my grandma was diagnosed almost 3 months ago, she is 76 and is more like my mum than grandma as she near enough brought me up.

Birth age is not as important as physical age of the body and also how aggresive or not the AML is, so I believe.

My gran has only been offered a clinical trial with low intensity chemo and a ccombination of drugs to try, her consultant has said that her prognosis is not good.

Her platelets are 95 and WBC 3.4 but she had a brain hemmorhage and heart attack just before she was diagnosed so she has not yet had any treatment due to the recovery of these events.

I hope your dad is ok and you and your family too and if you need to chat with someone you're welcome.

x

Hi Emma

I am sorry to hear about your Dad, My mum who is 63 was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in May of this year. They have treated her with the intensive course of chemo called AML15. She has had 2 initial course, 1 of 10 days then a break for 2-3 weeks and then one of 8 days and a break and then now she has had a very intensive 5 day course. It has been tough for her but she is doing well and after the first course her bone marrow results were good and showed no sign of the Leukaemia which was great news. She has to have a stem cell transplant in London next which is the final stage to try and ensure that the baddie cells dont return!
I guess by now you may have more of an idea of which type of chemo your Dad is dealing with so will be able to read up more - dont forget charities like Leukaemia Care and Leukaemia Research - they have really useful websites with lots of info on too. When my mum was first diagnosed I spent days just searching the net for more info on her disease. It really helps knowing more as you can start to understand what is ahead - remember the treatments now are so advanced and it is amazing what these doctors and consultants can do so stay positive.
Take Care
Catherine