Due to the progress in medicine, more and more young adults with childhood experience of cancer live among us. Leukemia does not only affect the physical body, but also has a strong impact on all other dimensions of a person. After the completion of the treatment, certain psychological, physical, neurological, emotional, behavioural, cognitive and other consequences may remain, which to varying extents affect those who have successfully undergone the treatment and can affect the further quality of lives. Leukemia does not only affect the sick individual, but affects the entire family, especially since the child is still developing and depends on the parents. Being faced with such a difficult diagnosis, which as a rule does not befall the parents, let alone their child, strongly shakes the entire family system and in the normality of the family. This experience can family binds even more strongly together, after successful treatment.
In the empirical part of the master's thesis, we used the phenomenological method to find answers to the question: "How did the experience of childhood leukemia characterize the experience of young adults and how do they experience relationships with others?" Due to the desire for a comprehensive understanding and insight into the experience of this phenomenon in children, we decided to use a phenomenological method. In the research, we conducted six interviews with young adults who were ill and underwent treatment for leukemia in their childhood. The analysis revealed five main themes: a) Experiencing illness and hospitalization; b) Problems with reintegration and socialization with peers; c) Leukemia as a promoter of changes in the family system; d) The consequences of treatment affect the quality of life and life decisions; e) Possibility of post-traumatic growth.
The obtained results confirm the importance of parental presence in the hospital during treatment. The way in which children will cope with their diagnosis, treatment and its consequences, in addition to their stage of development and age, also depends to a large extent on the functionality of the family and the way in which the parents cope with the child's diagnosis. After remission and returning to their home environment, children must put a lot of effort into restoring friendships and peer relationships. A greater ability to establish and maintain contacts contributes to a higher quality of life. After successful recovery, we observed a unique worldview in participating research, despite the different consequences of treatment, which is connected to individual aspects of post-traumatic growth.
The course and complications of treatment, the reactions of the family, the environment and society can leave visible and invisible consequences on the child and can greatly influence how the young adult will experience himself, his loved ones, society and the world. This is the reason why it is so important to understand how young adults experience changes after overcame the leukemia. If we understand how young adults are affected by their experience, we can detect and identify late treatment complications in time, which are then systematically addressed. For this purpose, the treatment of children who suffered from leukemia in childhood must be lifelong, holistic and multidisciplinary.
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