Court forced chemo

[Gina B]

This kid already ran away from treatment. She then was kidnapped from her mother by the government and now courts agree that she must have chemo against her wishes.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/co...hemotherapy/jjddrCRgeOa6JtSNhvKMBP/story.html

 

[matt wade]

Sad. Yet, the same 17 year old in Connecticut could get married with her mother's permission or have an abortion without parental permission.

 

[Revmitchell]

I saw the interview of her mother. Her mother clearly has her own issue with chemo. She really demonized it and seemed almost irrational. She may have just been upset by the whole thing but I question her judgment based on the interview.

 

[Zaac]

This kid already ran away from treatment. She then was kidnapped from her mother by the government and now courts agree that she must have chemo against her wishes.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/co...hemotherapy/jjddrCRgeOa6JtSNhvKMBP/story.html

 

[righteousdude2]

I saw the interview of her mother. Her mother clearly has her own issue with chemo. She really demonized it and seemed almost irrational. She may have just been upset by the whole thing but I question her judgment based on the interview.

Agreed and agreed, Rev.

I have a friend who was told last month, that she had cancer and maybe has five months to live. She is 50 years old, and the choice to take chemo is of course hers, even though I disagree with her choice to rub Frankencense on the parts of her body where the cancer is located instead of chemo, which doctors say can add five years to her life, I have bitten my tongue. I am sad, but it is her life.

I hold out faith that she will use the chemo, but she says its a poison the FDA approved.

I must add that last month she called morphine addictive and a poison also, but is now using it liberally to counter the pain!

What it comes down to is, it is his or her life. Although a minor child, that is another issue, and as a person who has worked with children and teens most of my life. As well as programs to protect their well-being and welfare, I have to say that I might side with the courts and order her to have the chemo, as it is possible that she is more a victim of her mother's bias than here own ability to sort between what is right and what is wrong in regard to getting treatment!

 

[annsni]

Unfortunately, my mother bought into the lie that chemo was bad for her and was going to make her sick. I think the cancer was significantly worse. I really wish she had used the chemo because more than likely, it would have saved her life. Instead, I had to watch a woman who ran marathons progress to not being able to go to the bathroom by herself in a matter of months and die within 6 months of her diagnosis. I was angry but it was her choice and no matter what I said, she wasn't going to listen to me.

This girl really should have the right to make whatever choice she wants to make. After all, the argument for abortion is that it's her body but now the courts say it's not her choice? That's just inconsistent. At least in this case her choice doesn't include the death of another human being. I do feel so badly for her family though.

 

[Benjamin]

Very, very poor decision to forego the chemo treatment by the daughter and especially by the mother, whose warped and ignorant guidance would condemn her daughter to DIE! Hodgkin’s lymphoma is very curable and alternative treatments are virtually guaranteed to fail. Instead of having the daughter talk to some wacko that claims to be cured by alternative treatments they should have her talk to the cancer patients who tried them and are now dying. I work with cancer patients daily and every one of them who tried alternative is DYING and every one of them will tell you that they made a mistake and regret not going with the doctor’s recommendations right away. They will tell you like it or not these treatments are the best we got and only real hope you have.

As much as I dislike the government interfering in our lives, in this case I’d consider what the court has done is “tough love” and the righteous thing to do. Hopefully the daughter will be mature and informed enough in 20 years to be thankful for her life.

Some may insist that the only correct thing to do is let her make her own decision now but there is no way of getting around that such insistence would be condemning her to death. Personally, and to stand for the government control of a life is very unusual for me, I value saving the girl’s life over the mother’s political games and think the mother needs to get her priorities right!

That “child” is considering the “now” (how ugly it can be to taking chemo) but she has no clue about the hardships she would be facing “later” when dying from cancer in comparison. Most likely “then” she want the chemo treatments to slow the progress of disease decaying body. That’s the way our society thinks today about medical treatment as if it should be an entitlement to neglect the responsible life styles we should be living - people want the quick easy fix or nothing. Well, in this case this case it’s nothing – and I don’t think the girl and her mother are rationally considering all the facts.

 

[PreachTony]

I have a friend who was told last month, that she had cancer and maybe has five months to live. She is 50 years old, and the choice to take chemo is of course hers, even though I disagree with her choice to rub Frankencense on the parts of her body where the cancer is located instead of chemo, which doctors say can add five years to her life, I have bitten my tongue. I am sad, but it is her life.

I hold out faith that she will use the chemo, but she says its a poison the FDA approved.

I must add that last month she called morphine addictive and a poison also, but is now using it liberally to counter the pain!

What it comes down to is, it is his or her life. Although a minor child, that is another issue, and as a person who has worked with children and teens most of my life. As well as programs to protect their well-being and welfare, I have to say that I might side with the courts and order her to have the chemo, as it is possible that she is more a victim of her mother's bias than here own ability to sort between what is right and what is wrong in regard to getting treatment!

Cancer is an ugly beast. My maternal grandfather was diagnosed with melanoma in his prostate in late September 2012 and was told he only had 4 months. He was called home four weeks later. Conversely, at a friend's church, one of the older ladies was diagnosed with cancer and given 6 months to live. That was in 1999, and she's still going.

I knew a man in my hometown who was diagnosed with cancer and given 3-4 months, but was told chemo would perhaps extend that to a year. He was warned that chemo would be painful, it would wreck his body, and the gains would be minimal. He opted for chemo anyway and was still gone in only 6 months. The difference with him and my grandfather was that my grandfather was ready to go, as he knew a better home was waiting for him. The other man was avowedly anti-church and anti-religion, mocking people who went to church. That dichotomy has always struck me...

 

[Sapper Woody]

I have already made up my mind that if I am diagnosed with cancer, I will not be undergoing chemo. While I don't claim to have a vast knowledge of cancer or alternatives to chemo, my limited personal experience leads me to believe that some alternatives work better than chemo.



And before people start telling me how they know so much more than me, I've known 4 people to get diagnosed with terminal cancer. (A few others non-terminal, like skin cancer). Of those 4, 3 did chemo and died horribly anyway. 1 did alternatives (diet, exercise, etc) and lives. That's enough evidence for me.

 

[poncho]

Do our bodies belong to us or the state?

 

[just-want-peace]

Do our bodies belong to us or the state?

When I was a much younger man, this would have been a rhetorical question - NOT ANYMORE!!!!:tear:

 

[Bro. Curtis]

I have already made up my mind that if I am diagnosed with cancer, I will not be undergoing chemo. While I don't claim to have a vast knowledge of cancer or alternatives to chemo, my limited personal experience leads me to believe that some alternatives work better than chemo.
{/quote]We have made great leaps forward in the treatment of chemo-therapy treatments.

If you are ever diagnosed with cancer (God forbid, I like you), my advice would be to listen to the folks who have actual treatment experience. And it pays to keep in mind, with Paul McCarntey's money & prestige, he could not save his wife with the best treatments.

And before people start telling me how they know so much more than me, I've known 4 people to get diagnosed with terminal cancer. (A few others non-terminal, like skin cancer). Of those 4, 3 did chemo and died horribly anyway. 1 did alternatives (diet, exercise, etc) and lives. That's enough evidence for me.

I survived lymphoma, 30 years now, due to chemo-therapy and heavy radiation oncology.

 

[go2church]

I saw the interview of her mother. Her mother clearly has her own issue with chemo. She really demonized it and seemed almost irrational. She may have just been upset by the whole thing but I question her judgment based on the interview.

Did she happen to mention other treatments that she wanted her daughter to undergo?

 

[Rolfe]

When I was the age of the girl with the cancer, I had absolutely no sense of my own mortality. In my teen years, I was what is now called an "adrenaline junkie"...before it was fashionable. Thankfully, there were others older (parents, polisen) and with more sense to keep me in check.

I cannot help but think that this young lady's lack of life experience and maturity (not an insult) is contributing to her not wanting the treatment.

 

[Bro. Curtis]

Anyone ever fight with their kid at bath time ? Bedtime ?

Should we give up those fights, as well ?

 

[Revmitchell]

Did she happen to mention other treatments that she wanted her daughter to undergo?

She just said "alternative treatments" in the interview I saw. She did not elaborate. He vitrol and characterizations lead me to believe she was not rational.

 

[matt wade]

He vitrol and characterizations lead me to believe she was not rational.

You just described 50% of the posters on this board! :laugh:

 

[Benjamin]

I have already made up my mind that if I am diagnosed with cancer, I will not be undergoing chemo.

Pfffftt, you have no idea how you would respond to the shock of being diagnosed with cancer until you walk in those shoes. God forbid.

Your statement makes me smirk, because I've literally heard dozens of survivors say they thought the same thing until the "shock" of being diagnosed.

It is true that chemo and radiation can be awful and those treatments might even be what kills a person eventually, but every case is different (that is the nature of cancer) and if want to try to live you will go with the best odds - when/if you ever where presented with them.

My main job is to rebuild my "hair regrowing patient"'s bodies that have made it through the treatments (surgery, chemo, radiation) for cancer. and are on the road to recovery. Granted, sometimes my job is to just to give them some relief because the cancer has gone too far, but if you could see the smiles on the faces of those who are now cancer free and realizing they are gaining back their normal life after treatments I strongly believe you'd reconsider your judgment based on a few cases.

 

[Sapper Woody]

Pfffftt, you have no idea how you would respond to the shock of being diagnosed with cancer until you walk in those shoes God.

When I was younger, the doctors thought I might have had cancer. Turned out it was just calcium build up causing a lump in my chest. So, smirk all you want. I've made up my mind. It's the same now as it was when I had the possibility of having it.



Edited to add; my apologies for that awkward quote. My phone did something weird.

 

[Gina B]

Being influenced by your mamma is not being a "victim," it's part of life, whether someone agrees or disagrees with the ideas.
We can't let the government run around stealing kids and forcing them into chemo against the wishes of the child and parent. It's a personal decision, not one for the government to make. People have the right to refuse cancer treatment. Well, obviously they don't anymore, but they should.
You may find it repulsive to let a child decide this, but you're not her and you're not her mother.
I think what bothers most people is dealing with the concept of a child dying. It is unfair. It is horrible. But kids do die, and it seems very selfish to force a kid into chemo and all that goes with it if their choice is to die naturally or try to fight it another way. Kids are people too. I can't imagine my child being strapped to a bed with a guard outside her door for forced chemo. Even if her decision is dumb, it's her body and her life. Having chemo available doesn't mean it is abusive to not use it. It's a choice people and parents should be allowed to make.