Kid getting out of Chemo.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2003-09-02 01:07pm

Wasn't sure weather to put this in SLAM or here, anyway in Utah there is a situation that has developed over the last month or so. At first glance it appears like some fundie wacko refusing medical treatment for their kid. But once one starts reading up on the situation, if gets fuzzy.

In a nut shell, this kid Parker Jensen was diognosed with a cancerous lump under his toungue. The doctors removed it and then tested it to see if it was cancerous. It was and the recommend chemotheripy.

Since the kid is young and cemo fucks you up, the family wanted to get a second opinion. When those came back as either deferring to the original Doc or in another case, as the family describs, didn't answer their questions, the family refused to give their son the treatment.

Natually the State came in and enforced the treatment, but the family skipped town and since it has been a huge story here in Utah.

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Sep/09022003/utah/89051.asp

This is a basic summery of what has happened so far. My question is, why fundie refusal to get medical treatment is dumb, do parents have the right to be made to have dangerous treatment done to their kids. The kid is not exactly bed ridden nor is he dragging ass, so why should the state force something like chemo on the kid before the parents can find an alternative or even confirm the sickness in the first place?

And.......discuss.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-09-02 01:36pm

Interesting. This made the news here yesterday, but there was a totally different slant on it. The message received here was this family wanted to seek attention from a doctor who is widely held to be a quack by the medical establishment. It is not even mentioned here.

Anyway, if the kid has cancer and the parents are refusing treatment then they should be put in jail when the kid dies. (Assuming they stay hidden the whole time.) I dont see how this is different from the fundie morons who will not get anti-biotics for their ailing infant and it dies.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-09-02 01:37pm

Knife wrote: In a nut shell, this kid Parker Jensen was diognosed with a cancerous lump under his toungue. The doctors removed it and then tested it to see if it was cancerous. It was and the recommend chemotheripy.

Since the kid is young and cemo fucks you up, the family wanted to get a second opinion. When those came back as either deferring to the original Doc or in another case, as the family describs, didn't answer their questions, the family refused to give their son the treatment.

Natually the State came in and enforced the treatment, but the family skipped town and since it has been a huge story here in Utah.

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Sep/09022003/utah/89051.asp

This is a basic summery of what has happened so far. My question is, why fundie refusal to get medical treatment is dumb, do parents have the right to be made to have dangerous treatment done to their kids. The kid is not exactly bed ridden nor is he dragging ass, so why should the state force something like chemo on the kid before the parents can find an alternative or even confirm the sickness in the first place?

And.......discuss.

From the article they don't come across as fundie to me. It really comes across that the state is being very heavy handed in this case, especially in turning them away from the Houston clinic. IMO they should have let them get the boy tested there and then if those independent tests also said he needed chemo then the state should have gone after them.

The article doesn't really state what the chemo entails, what it's side-effects are and what the odds are of it really helping the kid. My experiences with chemo have not been the greatest. Everyone I've known who went on chemo still died. My grandfather probably got another 6 months out of life being on chemo but he had to go through all the fun side-effects that chemo causes. IMO, 49 weeks is a long time to be getting chemo so I tend to agree with the parents that someone should be convincing them beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is the right thing for their kid instead of just telling them.

On a side but somewhat related note. I routinely see what works out to the opposite of the fundie's refusing treatment. We often have parents that can't/won't let go and so the hospital basically has to keep the kid alive even though there's no hope of any sort of life outside of a hospital bed. It's basically the hope that some sort of miracle will happen and eventually the kid will be alright. Sadly, those kind of things don't happen often. I suppose the hope is that there kid will be the next one to undergo some sort of breakthrough (miracle).

Some of those types of kids do eventually leave the hospital but after that we usually see them back every couple of months. To me it seems like a reall drain on resources what goes on with these kids but I'm not a parent and not the one to decide for these kids.

BoredShirtless · Post by **BoredShirtless** » 2003-09-02 01:39pm

Quote:

Parker's parents say they believe he does not have the disease and were attempting to get another opinion from a doctor in Houston.
They never saw that doctor. Instead, Barbara Jensen and her son hid in a Houston hotel as the boy's father, Daren Jensen, and relatives began a public campaign against what they consider an unjustified intrusion into their family matters.

More bullshit opportunistic behaviour from the justifiable breach of the rights of clearly inadequate parents. Putting your protest first? What about your son, why didn't you get that third opinion in Houston? Your sons just been diagnosed with a rare cancer from both Utah and LA you morons.

Your son hasn't even had a cold yet? Since when does cancer have to come with a fucking cold? Parker needs a new set of parents.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-09-02 01:43pm

BoredShirtless wrote:Quote:
[More bullshit opportunistic behaviour from the justifiable breach of the rights of clearly inadequate parents. Putting your protest first? What about your son, why didn't you get that third opinion in Houston? Your sons just been diagnosed with a rare cancer from both Utah and LA you morons.

Your son hasn't even had a cold yet? Since when does cancer have to come with a fucking cold? Parker needs a new set of parents.

I think a later portion of that aritcle says that the court ordered that clinic in Houston to turn them in. Now, if they boy would still have been checked out the parent's should have allowed themselves to be turned in but it doesn't say one way or another.

When those intentions came to light, lawyers with the Utah Attorney General's Office ordered the Houston clinic to turn Parker away and call local police if he even entered the building.

That statement there makes it look to me like someone is turning this into a pissing contest instead of looking after the boy.

BoredShirtless · Post by **BoredShirtless** » 2003-09-02 01:44pm

BoredShirtless wrote:Quote:
Parker's parents say they believe he does not have the disease and were attempting to get another opinion from a doctor in Houston.
They never saw that doctor. Instead, Barbara Jensen and her son hid in a Houston hotel as the boy's father, Daren Jensen, and relatives began a public campaign against what they consider an unjustified intrusion into their family matters.
More bullshit opportunistic behaviour from the justifiable breach of the rights of clearly inadequate parents. Putting your protest first? What about your son, why didn't you get that third opinion in Houston? Your sons just been diagnosed with a rare cancer from both Utah and LA you morons.

Your son hasn't even had a cold yet? Since when does cancer have to come with a fucking cold? Parker needs a new set of parents.

Woops, maybe I should have read the article all the way!

When those intentions came to light, lawyers with the Utah Attorney General's Office ordered the Houston clinic to turn Parker away and call local police if he even entered the building.

That's going too far. Why would the State want to order that? Because people hate backing down.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-09-02 01:48pm

BoredShirtless wrote:
That's going too far. Why would the State want to order that? Because people hate backing down.

Yes it is fucked up. I'm guessing that the feel the parents are just stalling and have already had two extra opinions and are just searching for one that will tell them what they want to hear.

BoredShirtless · Post by **BoredShirtless** » 2003-09-02 01:51pm

Tsyroc wrote:
BoredShirtless wrote:
That's going too far. Why would the State want to order that? Because people hate backing down.
Yes it is fucked up. I'm guessing that the feel the parents are just stalling and have already had two extra opinions and are just searching for one that will tell them what they want to hear.

Well I guess common sense has arrived, the Dad and the State are negotiating a resolution, so that's good.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2003-09-02 02:15pm

From the article they don't come across as fundie to me. It really comes across that the state is being very heavy handed in this case, especially in turning them away from the Houston clinic. IMO they should have let them get the boy tested there and then if those independent tests also said he needed chemo then the state should have gone after them.

This was just one of many articles that have been published in the local papers for about a month. I picked it because it was in today's edition and that it had a sumery of the situation for those who had not heard of the issue yet.

I don't think the family if fundie, I only mentioned it because I wanted to differinciate between idiots who don't vacinate their kids cause god said so and these people.

The state, imo, was very heavy handed yet tis true that the family seems to be shopping for the answer they want. But should the state interfer with the family conculting other doctors? The situation in Houston is appaling.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-09-02 02:30pm

Knife wrote: I don't think the family if fundie, I only mentioned it because I wanted to differinciate between idiots who don't vacinate their kids cause god said so and these people.

People don't seem to realize that mandatory vacinations aren't really about doing the best thing for your kid(s). They are mandatory because they help protect the rest of society from epidemics. Yes in most cases they will benefit individual children but the reason that the few (minute amounts) adverse reactions and deaths are acceptable is because the alternative impact on society would be disastrous.

Rubberanvil · Post by **Rubberanvil** » 2003-09-02 06:30pm

Tsyroc wrote: Yes in most cases they will benefit individual children but the reason that the few (minute amounts) adverse reactions and deaths are acceptable is because the alternative impact on society would be disastrous.

Yet people are too stupid and seflish(sp) to understand that.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2003-09-06 06:11am

my sis had chemo. shes still twitched from it.

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Kid getting out of Chemo.

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