Well, I’m Surprised
Judge lifts order requiring treatment for teen with cancer
I didn’t see this one coming.
Long story short boy has Hodgkin’s disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes, and after going through round one of chemo treatment the boy decided he’d like to do something else.
State steps in and takes partial custody of the child and insists on chemo treatment. On appeal a judge has overturned that decision and given control back to the parents and the child.
As it should be.
I do feel differently about this case than I do about Katie who I’ve mentioned in the past. In this case, presuming the media is presenting it properly, the only reason young Abraham doesn’t want to continue chemotherapy is because it was extremely uncomfortable. In Katie’s case there was concern of her becoming sterile and the parents were getting differing medical opinions on the right way to proceed. They were also looking for treatments within the realm of accepted treatments by the FDA — not herbal stuff from Mexico.
While I believe that the choice should be left to the sick and their parents, in Abraham’s case I would strongly recommend chemo based upon what I have seen. Of course, I am not a doctor, but, his only complaint is that it’s too hard on him.
Man up, nancy-boy! Life’s hard. Sometimes doing what you need to do to stay alive is going to hurt. Did you know that the first chemo patient ever was taken off chemo because doctors, aside from his own, objected to it and insisted that the patient was going to die from the treatment? The cancer was shrinking, and the patient would have likely lived if treatment was continued. Did you know that it was for a fairly treatable cancer these days? Throat cancer. The patient contracted throat cancer likely for his love of cigars and chewing tobacco.
The patient was George Herman Ruth. Babe Ruth. The Great Bambino.
Now, perhaps “man up, nancy-boy!” is a bit harsh but the primary reason that I found this case so appauling is because the “child” in this case is a 16 year old male. He would easily be tried as an adult in a murder trial anywhere in the country because at that age people understand life and death. I’m also biased when it comes to his gender — I’ll heap responsibility and critisim on a 16 year old male before I will a 16 year old female.
Yes, I’m sexist, if you want to call it that. I’m more likely to harsh on a young male than I am a young female. I’m also more likely to bitch out a family member than I am a stranger for the same reason: I’m part of that group, I’ve been there, and I know what you’re thinking.
If I were the judge I would have dismissed this too, but with the above nancy-boy talk.