A medico-legal question

[GoFish104]

Mildoc makes some valid points but untill you have watched a kid go thru chemo you have no friggin idea what it's like. In '96 our 12 yr. old daughter was diagnosed w/ ALL (leukemia). One of those "good" cancers w/ a high cure rate. I have to refer to chemo as a "slash & burn" treatment. Use radiation to burn their brain out & chemo to poison whats left of their body. Some long term side effects, "cognitive developed issues" Think that means they'll have trouble learning for the rest of their life. Stunted growth, increased risk of a secondary cancer, 25% of kids who survive the 1st round will devolp another cancer in their lifetime. I still have nightmares about what we did to our child. I can not honestly say if I would do it again or not but I can not & will not say a parent is wrong for running & hiding. I know medical professionals lied to us. Thats not some benign compound they pump into their veins it's so toxic the administering nurse would put on a rubber gown gloves & face shield before she opened the package. Someone asked me if I learned anything from our experience, yeah I learned I could hold a puke tray, talk on the phone & rub my daughters bald head at the same time. Sorry folks but if your child goes for chemo they will be used as a "test subject". Jack

[cgallery]

Sorry folks but if your child goes for chemo they will be used as a "test subject". Jack

Cancer survivor-ship is like a trail, with each survivor smoothing it a little for the one that will come behind them. The trail your daughter took was already smoothed by years of "test subjects." And she, in turn, left it a little smoother for the next group.

[MilDoc]

ALL (leukemia). One of those "good" cancers w/ a high cure rate... I have to refer to chemo as a "slash & burn" treatment... Some long term side effects, "cognitive developed issues" ...increased risk of a secondary cancer, 25% of kids who survive the 1st round will devolp another cancer in their lifetime... I can not & will not say a parent is wrong for running & hiding.... I know medical professionals lied to us. Thats not some benign compound they pump into their veins

While I agree with everything you said, would you rather have had your daughter die in 6 months, or have years of life left? I do not know how I would answer that if I were in your place, knowing what I know re: cancer treatment.

Of course chemotherapy is poison, and affects ANY cells in your body that are "growing." And whether the secondary Ca developing years later is due to the treatment, or due to genetics, is unknown. But that does not happen to every patient, so "my best bet" is genetics in most cases. The "luck of the draw."

Believe me, I sympathize. I have held many a child's hand as they breathed their last. And, seeing the effects of chemotherapy etc I have often wondered if it is worth it.

OTOH, 35 years ago survival rate was very low. Now it is very high (short term at least). Yep, each patient is in essence an experiment. But science gets better and better as a result. Maybe someday we will figure this out. But not yet. And if your docs didn't explain that, I am sorry. I always told parents the truth and what to expect. So did the oncologists I trained under. Unfortunately, it is a hard line to walk between "hanging crepe" and building unrealistic expectations.

[MilDoc]

Profit is not the word here "GREED" is however.Don't even get me started on the insurance companies they have a license to steal in this country.

Wall Street OWNS medical care today. Enough said without getting into politics.

[Slik Geek]

Yep. I like the "crazy good" expression. Hodgkin's is VERY treatable, and has been for many years. No excuse for mom's actions, except that she doesn't understand that.

From my perspective, it isn't quite that clear or simple. I've witnessed the sad ordeal of a young adult friend who has endured five rounds of treatment for Hodgkin's, each time with the assurance that it is very treatable. Within a year or so each time she has the heart wrenching discovery that she isn't cured and has to go through the horrible treatment ordeal once again, with the nuances of treatment variations each time.

I don't think that I shall ever forget the day where she sobbed on my shoulder telling me that she couldn't handle the treatment again (the fifth round). Wailing is a more accurate word.

I've seen the overwhelming pain in her father's eyes as he witnessed the agony his daughter was experiencing. His face will haunt my memory for a long time.

It would not be an easy decision for me to subject my child to that ordeal. I suppose that I would ultimately support the treatment, but it would be very difficult and I am inclined to be sympathetic towards the mother, and understand her hesitation.

[GoFish104]

OK let me start by saying I've been painting all day & that makes me grumpy. Secondly I don't think I'm any kind of conspiracy nut but... a drug company can't sell drugs if their consumers keep dieing. So lets change how we keep the books. I hear about improved survival rates. Our daughter survived cancer, that is she was cancer free when she died. She died of a ruptured colon caused by not having a bowel movment for a few weeks. Caused by a very steady dose of morphine,caused by having so many body parts removed because she was molding from the inside, caused by being immunosupressed, caused by cancer treatment. But she is a cancer survivor. On her death cert. it states the cause of death as "Toxic Shock". I've talked to many other parents whose kids survived cancer, only to die before they left the hosp. But the are counted as survivors because they died of heart failure, or an infection or blown blood vein or whatever. Jack