Understanding Childhood Cancer With Dr Geoff

My daughter died in 2014 from DIPG. I listened to your podcast on what the letters mean. I wish you would do more about the treatments, clinical studies and lack of advances in the tumor like you promised at the end of the episode. However, I think you did a fantastic job explaining the tumor. I LOVED the spaghetti and honey example. Thank you for what you are doing.

I just discovered your podcast. My daughter completed chemo for ALL Pre-B SR in May 2022. She was on protocol 932, COG. I listened to your episode on ALL. You talked about doing the bone marrow aspiration without anesthesia as if it’s just no big deal for anyone going through it. It’s obvious to me that you have not actually had a sick child. These procedures are a big deal to the parents and kids going through them. Every single one of the 4 BMAs & the 18 LP’s and the 3 port surgeries and her PRES, and her MTX neurotoxicity and her steroid-induced diabetes and her high blood pressure and her permanent damage to the white matter of her brain— IT IS ALL A BIG DEAL. Don’t you dare be glib or flippant about it. And I won’t even begin about port access. Adults ought to be getting local and general anesthesia aplenty for these procedures unless they choose otherwise. There is no excuse whatsoever for cancer care to be barbaric in this day and age. Is it too much to ask for pain control?? For some humane administration of procedures that do, in fact, hurt? Or must you continue to treat cancer patients like farm animals getting ear notches and teeth jerked out? Raise your standard of care & have some frigging humanity.

My 12 year old son now has ALL-b leukemia-June 2018- so thankful for this podcast that is calm and realistic to help parents and friends understand the disease and the treatments.