After hearing this story I looked up info on the little girls disease. What I found would make any parent agonize over what kind of treatment plan to take. Asking for other opinions is completely reasonable. There are newer treatment plans out there that require lower levels of radiation. The younger the child the more devistating the radiation is to them. Some are so retarded because of it that they cannot read or write or do many things that they were even able to do before and they will never learn it because the radiation destroyed cells in their mind. It's a terribly sad thing - I cannot imagine telling my child's Dr - "OK, go ahead and do something to my outwardly healthy child so that they might never be able to finish school or possibly even talk to me again. Ruin their mind so they can live a live as a mentally handicapped person the rest of their life."
Also before they withdrew her from the radiation they videotaped their daughter talking about her condition. She talked about how some people can decide not to have certain treatment for themselves because they'd rather live their lives as normally as possible and die earlier than live handicapped and die slowly.
So often this disease comes back anyway - are the Dr's gonna force her to go through treatment again if it comes back?? What are they gonna say if this doesn't work and she only lives a little while longer as a retard? Why do this to her when her parents just want to enjoy what time they have with their daughter.
This story makes me so angry with the Dr's for doing this. The least they could have done is to offer the parents some alternative therapy. I read enough to know that the lower doses of radiation aren't that rare. If the Dr's don't know about it then they need to go back to school. Granted I don't konw the whole situation but why wouldn't they bring in other Dr's for the parents to consult with? It's deplorable and disgusting that the state and Dr's would cooperate to force this kind of thing.
Here is
one link that was informative.
I really hope the hospital is providing sufficient support persons for the family because the kind of treatment for this little girls type of cancer is one of the most intensive kinds and consequently the mots stressful for her and her family emotionally and mentally as well. Alientating the parents like this cannot be good for this little girls mental health. She did not want the treatment. Can you imagine her state of mind now? If she's begun treatment again and her parents are not allowed access to her as much? The Dr's are her enemies in this scenerio and they really need to be her advocate at this time. I hope they are doing their utmost to care for her emotions and mind or she may never recover despite all their medical treatment.