Is leukemia treated on inpatient or outpatient procedures? ?

Question

OK, I'm writing a story about a girl who gets leukemia. But I was wondering, does she have to stay in the hospital for the entire time she has cancer? I thought it depended on how sick you were, but I really have no clue. Help please? If you have any other info on leukemia, I'd greatly appreciate it. I think I have a pretty good grasp on what it is, and I think I understand how it is treated, but obviously, I'm not an expert! Thanks so much!

Answer 1

They do not stay in the hospital the entire time they have cancer. Usually they are treated as an outpatient. From time to time they are admitted for blood transfusions and they are discharged once they are stabilized. It does require a long hospital stay if they are getting a bone marrow transplant.

Answer 2

I had leukemia twice and both times I received three "stages" of chemotherapy per round so a total of 9 stages of chemo. I was treated completely in inpatient. I was put in an area where the air was filtered. I was behind two big blast doors. At times I was the only one back there. I couldn't leave my room nor have any visitors when my white blood cell count was lower then .4 which was just about all the time. They put a hickman into my artery though surgery so they could draw blood without poking me with a needle. They checked my vitals every 4 hours (blood preasure and tempature). I was put into the ICU (intensive care unit) where I was monitered 24/7. I had a intensinal infection but I had no white blood cells to fight it. I had bone marrow biopsys (stick a needle up your bone and draw out some marrow) and I also had spinal taps (sitck a needle up your spine and draw out some fluid and inject chemo into the spinal fluid). My second time I had radiation both cranial (head) and TBI (total body irradiation) to destroy my bone marrow because I was going to have a bone marrow transplant. I went through the same ammount of chemo as the first time. the only difference was the radiation. It felt warm kinda like a hot tub except you can't move otherwise you could quite possibly die. The radiation machine looked like a kitchen mixer blender thingy without the blender tool. (I cook alot. HA! Yea right) For two days they woke me up every hour on the hour to see if I had to go to the bathroom. Ummm... food tasted nasty and smelled worse. I could smell in my fathers breath from across the room if he had coffee or not. Chemo gives you super scent. I had strange cravings. One night I wanted a sandwitch (which was extremely odd) at 11 at night. My mother walked 4 blocks in her pajamas to the store to get the sandwitch ingredients in a minnisota snow storm. If you have anymore questions about cancer I don't mind talking about it one bit. E-mail me and I'll answer them as best as a two time survivor can.

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Answer 3

It depends on how serious her leukaemia is. If it's discovered quite early on, then she will have to stay in hospital for a while. If it's a late notice then she will most likely have to stay in the whole time. It also depends on how well she reacts to treatment.