Childhood ALL Survivor now 31yrs old

Felt like I was reading something based on me!
I am also 31 and was diganose with Leukemia in the fall of 1983. A month and a half before my 3rd birthday. I also had radiation to my brain because of the protocol. Though they knew it would give me a learning disability. I have trouble comprehending basic math and have a short term memory problem. These are the side effects that were confirmed by main doctors. Maybe around six years ago I started to experience pain in my feet. A couple years latter a local oncholgist thought it was risidual nerve damage due to the cancer treatment I had. I had always had muscle tritches and occational pain in my shoulders but it wasn't until my feet started to hurt that I really looked into nerver damage.
As for getting through life, it has been especially hard/ School was torture not only from classmates but teachers being sceptical about my learning disability. As for school I have an associates in Interior Desidn which I love. However given the market I've never gotten a job specific to it. So I've jumped from several part time jobs since I had gotten my degree in 2006 I think it was.
Though I started to sell some things on etsy last year. And have been a vendor at the local farmers market starting full time this years season. So it's not all bad, just wish when someone hires me it will be more than part time or temorary.

If you would like to chat you can find my facebook page for Childhood cancer survivors here

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Childhood-Cancer-Survivors/167166323375529

I don't check my email much so this will work best

I've also attended an Iowa based camp for kids with cancer and have been a vo;unteer since 2001

https://www.facebook.com/ChildrensCancerConnection

They also have a wonderful survivorship program with an annual conference and weekend camp.

https://www.facebook.com/SurvivorshipConnection

Hello

Looks like i've found my age group here. I was diagnosed in 1982 with b-cell ALL only 4 months old. After three years of chemo i was in remission and have been since. I've been lucky too survive with small sideeffects since i only had chemotheorapy.

46 year Survivor of ALL

Hello everyone,

I was diagnosed with ALL in 1973 (age 11) and had five years of chemo.  I thought you might be happy to know that even though I was told I would never have children, or they just didn't know if it was possible, I have two and am the grandmother to two beautiful twin girls.  Even though I went to a high-risk OBGYN (my choice) I had normal pregnancies and my kids were very healthy. 

I was in a test group and being young and stupid I stopped going for appointments when I was about 19 years old.  I was tired of being different and tired of traveling 100 miles one way to visit the clinic I was treated at.  Please, please, for your continued health and peace of mind, keep getting those check ups with your oncologists.  I haven't had any relapses (knock on wood) and have a relatively healthy life.  I have some health issues (I mean I am 57 years old) but I don't think any of those are related to my cancer or my treatment.  But then again, I really don't know because I havent' been able to find too much info on the type of treatment I had.  Most of the doctors are deceased and I was told records that old aren't around anymore or aren't that easily accessible.

Wishing all of you continued good health and I hope what I've written has given you some positive feelings about your future.

I don't know if anything I have to say will benefit you, or ease your mind, but at the least I offer you my support. I hope you've had lots of kiddos by now.

I was diagnosed at age 19, and have 28 years post treatment for ALL. The military exposed me to toxins (similar to the Camp Lejeune lawsuit), so my cancer was not in my genes (they tested me). I take it from your fears of inheritance that you were tested positive for the genetic mutation? If that genetic testing was negative for you, I hope you understand you cannot pass Leaukemia to your unborn children.

I'm so sorry for this lingering worry for you. I was always just so grateful to be able to get pregnant with my children years later after 3.5 years of chemo. I always expected the chemo to have robbed me of egg fertility. This may not be helpful to you, but have you ever considered asking your parents if they would have chosen to not get pregnant with you if they had known then you would be subjected to ALL as a kid? As a mom myself, and a Leukemia survivor, I suspect their answer would be similar to my own "God forgive me, but yes. I would always choose for the world to be blessed with you." In your position, my true question would be "how would I ever reconcile feeling responsible if this horror befalls my own child?" What a truly unfair quandary you've burdened yourself with, but to be frank, every parent feels responsible at every tragedy that befalls their kids. That is inescapable and comes with the job. I read somewhere "To live is to suffer." We can't save our kids from their Life's tragedies, no more than we could have saved ourselves from Leukemia. So that must not be the point of having kids at all. But I think we can armour them with the survival skills we learned from going through such a horrific experience (you know the ones).

I, for one, hope you are blessed with the children of your heart's desire, because as a survivor you are special qualified to feel deeply and emphatically connect with the personal lives of your children. You deserve joy after the torture, fear, and uncertainies I know personally you have experienced (and still go through) from Leukemia. Blessings to you and your family.

I think 15 years post the typical first 5 year provisional window is due to a lack of longitudinal research studies following survivors beyond 20+ years. However, it's all reality to know that some unspecified number of years of life expectancy have been sacrificed by the brutal nature of the treatment, but NO ONE can predict your friend's life expectancy outside of God. I saw a comment on here from someone who had a BMT in 1986, so...

I didn't have a BMT for my ALLeukemia, but I did have 3.5 years of chemo, came back from the brink of death, and I still carry an Ommaya Reservoir shunt inside my brain. I'm a 28 year survivor.

It's been 10years since your fearful post. Is your friend still living? I do so very hope so, and if not, I'm sorry. Sometimes I wonder why I survived while so many others did not along the way. Going through the horror of it, I can tell you a part of you dies, regardless. If your friend still lives, I encourage you to give him a call.

I'm 47 year old ALL Leukemia survivor from the 1970s. I have been looking for survivors from around then. I have several health issues from treatment. My story is far from a happy one. It's good to know there are other survivors.