Approximately 2,500 people develop pediatric cancer each year.
In order to cure cancer, growing children undergo severe treatment with anticancer drugs and radiation.
However, the treatment can cause various complications, and many people continue to worry for a long time.
Long-term follow-up outpatients support such patients.
February 15th is International Childhood Cancer Day.
Do you want to think about pediatric cancer together?
(Osaka Broadcasting Station Director Aimee Shirataki)
Brain tumor found in 5th grade
Base hospital for pediatric cancer, Osaka Municipal General Medical Center.
"Long-term follow-up outpatient" is an outpatient for regular diagnosis and examination after treatment.
Seisuke Hirayama (28) undergoes blood tests and MRI tests once every few months.
Mr. Hirayama was an active boy who loved baseball.
When he was in fifth grade, he was hospitalized with a malignant tumor in his brain.
He was discharged from the hospital after completing treatment, but by the end of his eighth year of junior high school, the brain tumor had returned.
I was hospitalized for more than half a year and underwent severe treatment with anticancer drugs and radiation.
“Walls” faced after returning to school
Mr. Hirayama, who was discharged from the hospital, faces a big wall.
He didn't get along with his friends when he went back to school.
She said she struggled with her illness and treatment, which prevented her from growing taller than her peers and not having a different voice.
Mr. Seisuke Hirayama
``I was in the hospital for a long time, so it became a bottleneck again, and I didn't interact much with my friends, and I felt like I was depressed. It was the hardest. I think I had a bit of an inferiority complex towards other people
. ”
I grew taller and had a stronger body.
I was told it would never happen again...
Mr. Hirayama finished his treatment and found a job.
At the age of 25, when he was told he would never have a recurrence, an imaging scan of his head revealed the tumor again.
"I wasn't shocked or sad. Ah, it happened again."
Mr. Hirayama was hospitalized for more than four months and received treatment.
Because he took a long break from work, he quit his job and is living a part-time job.
Ongoing battle with complications
The battle against brain tumors and the complications of their treatment continues today.
Due to anti-cancer drug treatment, I have hearing loss in both ears, and I am trying not to let go of my hearing aids.
In addition, it affects the ability to control urination, and I have to take medicine every day to control the frequency of urination, and I cannot give it up.
On a hot summer day three years ago, when I replenished a lot of fluids, my body became fluid, and I suddenly lost consciousness in the middle of the night and had to be rushed to the emergency room.
Mr. Hirayama's mother
: "I wondered why just drinking water made me feel like this. I had heard that it would be dangerous if I couldn't adjust it, but I didn't think it was that important."
Mr. Hirayama
"I'm too worried and can't put it all out. However, the number one thing is that I don't want to have a family, but when I think about things like being sick and causing trouble, I wonder if it's okay. ."
Long-term follow-up outpatient support for experienced people
The “long-term follow-up outpatient” is a place to support these childhood cancer survivors.
We are checking for complications and checking for recurrence on a regular basis.
At the Osaka Municipal General Medical Center, doctors who treat pediatric cancer patients and full-time nurses take care of them.
We detect the possibility of complications at an early stage and connect them to specialized clinical departments.
Dr. Keiko Okada
"There are people who are stuck in school or work due to long hospitalizations and complications of treatment, so I wonder if there is any help, what is the problem at that stage, and what can be the cause. In consideration of the treatment history, such as whether or not, I also do something like a bridge to other doctors.”
for spiritual support
Nurse : "
Do
you have any problems at work?"
Ms.
Hirayama: "
No.
"
It supports me.
My doctor has been with me since I was in the 5th grade of elementary school.
Dr. Keiko Okada has been my doctor since I was in the fifth grade of elementary school.
For Mr. Hirayama, he is someone you can talk to about anything.
Mr. Hirayama
: "I've been going out a
lot lately . Skiing. Skiing!"
Dr. Okada
: "Whew, how far?"
When I asked Mr. Hirayama if Dr. Okada was a source of support,
Mr. Hirayama replied, "Yes, Dr.
Okada
may
not know about it."
If you come and see me in good spirits, I will get well too.”
Dr. Keiko Okada
: “People who were diagnosed with cancer when they were young and underwent treatment have gone through a lot of hardships that other people don’t experience. I am proud of that. I would be happy if everyone in society supported me so that I could live.”
Childhood cancer impacts and supports
There are many different types of childhood cancer, and the effects of each treatment are different.
Some are affected by the difficulty of having children.
Daisuke Masumoto says that long-term follow-up outpatient treatment was the trigger for him to start infertility treatment and have a child.
Mr. Daisuke Masumoto
: “The doctor told me all about my disease again, and the treatments I received were anticancer drugs, and the types of anticancer drugs were this and this, and I administered this much. I was able to solve the problem because of this, but without it, even if I wanted to have a child, I think I would have remained unsure.”Mr. Masumoto, director of the Association to Protect Children with Cancer
Patients .
The association has compiled a list of hospitals nationwide that implement long-term follow-up, and accepts consultations from patients in order to let people know the importance of continuing to go to long-term follow-up outpatient clinics.
Association for the Protection of Children with Cancer 03-5825-6311 (representative)