May 25, 2012
Topics A-Z Cancer 87 Years Old Grandma Diagnosed with Leukemia
87 Years Old Grandma Diagnosed with Leukemia |
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Dear Ask The Doctor: Hi, I wonder if you can help me? My nan who is 87 years old was diagnosed with leukemia in October 2010. We didn't think she would make it to Chritsmas but amazingly she has. I don't know what type of Leukemia she has as I have to rely on information through my mum who doesn't really like to talk about it in any detail. She is staying in our local hospice on a part time basis to have blood transfusions however the regularity in which she needs these has gone from several months down to every 3 weeks. My mum is really suffering as she is almost full time carer for my nan and I am worried about her health. What is the likely outcome of this as I don't believe my nan is receiving any other treatment other then transfusions and platelets. She almost seems to be in denial that she is ill. Have you any previous experience with these type of situations please? Dear Dave: No single approach can be considered the standard of care in case of elderly patients. Older patients are less tolerant to the  intensive chemotherapy and often have comorbid medical illnesses which result in limited cardiac, pulmonary, renal and/or hepatic functional reserve and poor tolerance of systemic bacterial and fungal infection. The best guide for the line of management in such patients depends on the condition of their general health condition and performance status if started on chemotherapy. So the treating doctors of your nan would be the best persons to judge & decide on the treatment based on her health conditions and her ability to tolerate strong medications. In such cases supportive or palliative therapy is also a good option to improve the quality of life as much as possible. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 07 April 2011 ) |
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