ABSTRACT
Probably one of the greatest crises a family can experience is the anticipated loss of a child through a catastrophic, fatal illness such as leukemia. As a major cause of childhood death in the United States, approximately 2,000 children under the age of fifteen die from leukemia annually (Medical World News, 1971). While prior to the 1950’s, the leukemic child was likely to survive approximately four months, advances in treatment procedures have resulted in considerable prolongation of life, such that the average survival time is now two to three years. The course of the illness is still, however, extremely variable and cannot be predicted in advance. Thus, many children have a series of relapses and remissions until the ultimate terminal phase; others never achieve remission (Bozeman et al., 1955; Kaplan, 1971).
