Thesis: Childhood cancer is a life-altering disease that kids all over the world are diagnosed with every day; regardless of if they are a survivor or not, this disease will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Every day, nearly forty-three children are diagnosed with cancer, Leukemia being the number one diagnoses (“Schwartz”). Each type of cancer has different effects on a child when they are diagnosed. When diagnosed, different types of cancer treatments affect children’s bodies in different ways; some more extreme than others. For example, chemotherapy, which is a common treatment for cancer, causes the child to experience hair loss, nausea and vomiting, increased risk of infection, and causes the …show more content…
These effects can be physical or psychological, and vary in severity. It is obvious that after being diagnosed with cancer as a child and withstanding the treatment, there will be a great deal of changes to the body. Depending on the type of treatment that was endured and how long it was implemented, the effects will vary. Although, most types of childhood cancers tend to have similar physical effects after a child is a survivor; such as, problems with the muscles and bones, lungs, teeth, growth and development, and other major organs (“Late Effects”). Childhood cancer affects a child’s muscles and bones tremendously, even after they are cancer-free, because of the treatments that are used and cause a child’s bones to be very brittle after having cancer (“Late Effects”). In addition, childhood cancer also affects the lungs and other major organs in many different ways; such as, making them weaker, because of the harsh medicines that were flowing through the body during treatment, and throwing off hormones (“Schwartz”). Furthermore, the most unexpected physical effect of childhood cancer is the way it affects a child’s teeth as they develop (“Late Effects”). Nearly every treatment for childhood cancer affects the salivary glands, which can cause decreased saliva in the mouth, thus resulting in tooth decay and/or gum disease (“Late Effects”). When being diagnosed with cancer during infancy or