7 yr old and forced Radiotherapy

[Marty Funkhouser]

18 months ago I would have had labelled this woman as a nutjob. However after having my own bundle of joy in the world now for over a year I can understand (in a very slight way) how the implosion of your world on the diagnosis of something like this in your child can lead you to irrational behaviour. The fact that they decided to call this lad 'Neon' doesnt do anything to persuade me that t his parents arent a little...different. The temptation to run away and live in a fantasy land with your dying son I can fathom, its a horrendous thing and I feel sympathy for the whole family.

This is what the courts are for surely? A mother does not have the right to decide when her son's life will end (apart from incredibly rare cases when someone is on life support I guess, and even then it would need to be a joint decision with the father?) Hopefully Neon will make a full recovery and his mother will see the madness of her actions.

[smegmore]

Marty Funkhouser said:

18 months ago I would have had labelled this woman as a nutjob. However after having my own bundle of joy in the world now for over a year I can understand (in a very slight way) how the implosion of your world on the diagnosis of something like this in your child can lead you to irrational behaviour. The fact that they decided to call this lad 'Neon' doesnt do anything to persuade me that t his parents arent a little...different. The temptation to run away and live in a fantasy land with your dying son I can fathom, its a horrendous thing and I feel sympathy for the whole family.

This is what the courts are for surely? A mother does not have the right to decide when her son's life will end (apart from incredibly rare cases when someone is on life support I guess, and even then it would need to be a joint decision with the father?) Hopefully Neon will make a full recovery and his mother will see the madness of her actions.

Good post, well summarised and spot on in my opinion.

[Slaav]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

So it isn't just me then?

[Marty Funkhouser]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Whilst I agree about the name thing, I'd say that having your 7 year old facing this sort of dreadful battle for his life - one that is likely to leave him with permanent reminders of it even if it goes well - is something that could push the sanest of parents over the edge. It must be the most exquisite agony.

[crofty1984]

I've heard that some of the major side effects of using alternative medicine to treat cancer are:

• Death from cancer

[10 Pence Short]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Everyone says he's a bright lad. He could be one of the leading lights in his chosen profession, leading a colourful life. Saving him now is a noble cause. The whole episode has in fact been illuminating.

Had enough yet?

[vonuber]

Who has custody of him?

[TheSnitch]

The mother seems to believe she has an absolute right to decide what's best for her child and to deny him proven treatment. She doesn't. She only has that right over decisions involving her own care.

Most cancer therapies are gruelling, whether they are chemotherapy treatments, surgery or radiotherapy, but you know what? So's the cancer. Without the treatment, you will probably
die. You may die quickly. You may be one of the incredibly fortunate few who go into spontaneous remission, but you probably won't be.

Cancer isn't something which invades us - it happens when something goes wrong with our own cells. Therefore, killing those cells often involves damaging other cells too. That's a consequence of treatment. Hopefully, the damage will be short-lived, but that can't be guaranteed.

If adults want to put their faith in hocus-pocus like homeopathy, it's up to them. Enjoy your short whle on earth if you decide to treat your own cancer with them. But it's not on to inflict that on one's kids. It isn't as if this little boy's condition was considered to be terminal and she was trying to spare him the palliative use of aggressive treaments which are sometimes used in the hope of buying the patient some additional time - god knows, I would be saying a big, fat "No thanks" to most of that myself. She wanted to use ridiculously unproven ''natural'' remedies on the basis of a mantra that Natural =good and Pharmaceutical=bad. In which case it would probably do her a world of good to do a bit more googling for all the ''Natural'' compounds which can give you cancer in the first place.

I sincerely hope this little boy makes a full recovery and lives a normal life afterwards. But if he doesn't, it will not be because he was treated with conventional medicine and not magic woo water, organic yak's milk and dangly crystals, or whatever other bks she wanted to inflict on him.

[Slaav]

This reminds me of a very unfortunate story involving the Mrs and one of my best friend's mum.

We were chatting to the Mrs Consultant (Breast lump type stuff) and Dr Q told a story about the wife of one of his best friends. A fellow Consultant - it became apparent it was the mum and dad of my friend.

Apparently, the mum refused his help and went 'natural' and 'homeo' etc. Insisted that was best for her and her body. Her husband was distraught. Her daughter didnt know the full story.... FInally, when it was obvious that she wasn't managing to cure herself with Hemp and Mushrooms, she gave in after months of pleading. It was then too late and she died despite Dr Q's best efforts as she had simply left it too late - he was adament that he could have caught it if allowed to treat her when first diagnosed!!!

Criminal - and the daughter still doesn't know the whole story Thank God!

So, whilst I have some degree of sympathy for obvious reasons, section the mad cow and help the child!!!

Did I get off the fence there?

[TwigtheWonderkid]

crofty1984 said:

I've heard that some of the major side effects of using alternative medicine to treat cancer are:

• Death from cancer

I've never had cancer, but if I did who would I trust, a highly trained consultant oncologist, or some new age happy clappy cobblers off the internet. It's a tricky one and no mistake!

Do people really think there is some conspiracy afoot here? Why would hospitals spend thousands of pounds bombarding you with chemo and radiotherapy and make you feel like death and lose your hair etc when they knew that you could be cured by eating a winalot and tabasco omlette whilst rubbing marmite into the affected area?

Alternative medicine, a euphemism for stuff that doesn't work.

[Jasandjules]

Hhhmm, it's almost like there is a billion pound industry for drugs and treatments etc.

But luckily no-one ever dies due to mistakes of the medical profession.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2163382/NH...

[bexVN]

I'm fairly certain that those that deal with alternative meds do a pretty good trade aswell and they don't have to spend millions proving their efficacy or safety. (alternatives are not always safe either)

[Bill]

Trax said:

The parent has a right to decide what happens and how to raise their child

And the law has a duty to protect children from idiot parents.

[Johnnytheboy]

Muzzer79 said:

She named the kid 'Neon'

That alone should have been enough for a court to ignore her views completely.

[otolith]

Car mechanics sometimes make mistakes too, it doesn't mean you'd be better treating your failed coils with some homeopathic petrol with a distant memory of garlic or sticking some pins in the bumper.

[NorthernBoy]

Jasandjules said:

I wonder whether everyone will be happy if the radiotherapy kills him !?!?

That's about as stupid as trawling the accident statistics to find the freak even where a seatbelt killed someone, and declaring that everyone was wrong to believe that they save lives.

The idiot mother is, in effect, asking that her dying child be treated with magical thinking instead of effective proven treatment. She's as wrong as parents who believe that they can beat satan out of their toddlers, but she's far more likely to kill hers.

[NorthernBoy]

Jasandjules said:

So I guess you don't think parents should choose which school their kids attend? Personally I believe the state is here to serve us NOT the other way around.

Yes, it's there to serve the child's interests, and to stop the mother killing him.

Why do you have a problem with this?

[TheSnitch]

Jasandjules said:

Hhhmm, it's almost like there is a billion pound industry for drugs and treatments etc.

But luckily no-one ever dies due to mistakes of the medical profession.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2163382/NH...

You know what - due to the whole ''Homeopathy good, Pharmaceutical bad'' cobblers you trot out every time this topic comes up, you don't start off with a lot of credibility as it is.

But in posting a completely unrelated article from that ''Fountain of all Knowledge'' the Daily Wail, you really are shooting both your feet off.

Still, I'm sure someone will be along shortly to dab your bloodied stumps with some organic lavender oil.....

[elster]

TheSnitch said:

Jasandjules said:

Hhhmm, it's almost like there is a billion pound industry for drugs and treatments etc.

But luckily no-one ever dies due to mistakes of the medical profession.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2163382/NH...

You know what - due to the whole ''Homeopathy good, Pharmaceutical bad'' cobblers you trot out every time this topic comes up, you don't start off with a lot of credibility as it is.

But in posting a completely unrelated article from that ''Fountain of all Knowledge'' the Daily Wail, you really are shooting both your feet off.

Still, I'm sure someone will be along shortly to dab your bloodied stumps with some organic lavender oil.....

Especially as the Wail failed to spell Death properly.

We all know that Homoeopathy is the Emperors clothes.

[Grenoble]

Bill said:

Trax said:

The parent has a right to decide what happens and how to raise their child

And the law has a duty to protect children from idiot parents.

Indeed.

The parent has no rights - they have duties as a parent.

The court acts in the interests of the child, if necessary removing the parents decision making authority by making the child a ward of court.