Posted on 01/07/2015 6:22:02 AM PST by justlittleoleme
But, the form of cancer she has if very treatable .. so that confuses me as to why she and her parents do not want her to be treated.
I find it strange.
She is being treated at Sloan Cancer center in New York. My brother took her to the doctor because she was feeling tired over the past two weeks. They couldn’t find anything wrong on that visit. She got a sore throat a week later so they took a culture to test it. The test showed Strep throat but it also showed her white blood count was extremely low. They knew it was serious from that test result. Thank you for the prayers. We appreciate it.
I had six months of chemotherapy twelve years ago. Piece of cake. The doctor also removed five lymph nodes to be sure there were no loose cancer cells floating around. Haven’t had any problem since. I’m just grateful that there is a treatment for cancer. It’s a horrible disease.
Newfy, had four months of chemo that was absolutely the worst thing imaginable. And it damned near killed me. All chemo treatments are not the same.
binreadin, I had one hospital oncologist try to classify my cancer as three different cancers. Finally, I went to Stanford for tests and they determined which type it actually was. Then I had a third hospital verify Stanford’s tests. It ended up being a fourth type of cancer that the first hospital had misdiagnosed.
My sympathies are with the girl. These people who believe that doctors are never wrong have their heads up where the sun doesn’t shine IMO.
The other case was Pelletier. In that case the state sided with the hospital against the parents on the diagnosis claiming it was psychological. As result she received no treatment for the better part of a year before being released and has now been hospitalized since December.
Yes, physicians make mistakes, which is why I think, as a doc, that it is essential that patients be informed about their own condition and be actively involved in all steps of decision making. That said, what I wrote above is true, and I would hate to have the life and potential contributions that this 17 year old can make to the world be lost because of a poor decision to avoid a very likely curative treatment.
To deny this girl a second opinion or even a third is what I find most egregious. I get second opinions on anything serious and I consider chemo treatments as being serious simply because of how miserable they are to endure.
Totally agree with you about second and third opinions, and I’m sorry that you had to go through chemo. It can be life saving for sure, but any way you look at it, it’s difficult to go through.
Children aren't property and never were. Parents can let their children die through inaction. The state has the right to step in when that occurs.
There was a valid reason why legal age used to be 21. As with most teens, she can’t see past today. She can’t see that “potentially sterilized” doesn’t mean 100% guaranteed done deal. There is much more to life than that. She can’t see she may not want to have children when she is mature and responsible. She can’t see that a potential husband may already have children she could love as her own or that there are countless children out there wanting desperately to be adopted by a loving mother. She has her whole life in front of her but is throwing a teenage temper tantrum. Ok, an extreme suicidal temper tantrum. All she can focus on is the treatment that will be sickening for a short time rather than the very long fulfilling life she could have.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.