As tumours or leukaemia advance, they can occasionally cause bleeding in different parts of the body
- This can vary from bruising to the appearance of large amounts of blood: your child may cough up or vomit blood, have a large or prolonged nosebleed, or produce blood in their stool
- A large bleed is frightening to see, but is usually painless. It is important to reassure your child
- It is usually possible to identify which children are most likely to experience this and to warn you in advance that this may happen
- Bleeding may be caused by a tumour pressing on a large blood vessel or a low platelet count, but it is not usually helpful to check blood counts at this stage, it is more important to treat symptoms as they arise
What you can do
- Keep a supply of dark coloured towels and blankets: these will camouflage blood and look less frightening for you and your child
- If your child has a large bleed, contact your nurse or doctor, then give buccal Midazolam and/or Diamorphine. You can repeat this every 10 minutes